The Collected Works of a OneShot Junkie
by Aryndiel
Summary: A growing assortment of drabbles, shorts, and other brief ideas. Latest: "Creator". Chichi-ue was proud of all his creations, except one.
1. Choke

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters. If I did, Inuyasha and Kagome would have gotten their act together by now. The live one! Pick the live one, dummy! Not the undead one who is yet again beyond your reach!

**Summary:** An ever-growing assortment of drabbles, shorts, and other one-scene ideas that have popped into my head, in a variety of genres. Expect to see many different characters portrayed as the collection grows. If you have an idea for a future entry, leave a review. I can't promise to comply, but I'm always open to suggestions.

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**The Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Choke**

Inuyasha ran with light, quick steps, his bare feet hardly making any noise beyond the rustling of the grass in his wake. The sun was shining, it wasn't too hot or cold, and he was not tired, injured, hungry, or in any immediate danger. _This_, he mused, _might just be what real happiness felt like._ Provided, of course, he tuned out the complaints of the miko on his back. She was pretty loud, though, and quite close to his left ear, which made it kind of difficult.

"I really don't know what your hurry is, Inuyasha," Kagome was protesting. "There's no point in wearing us all out when we don't have any idea where Naraku is. There hasn't been a hint of a jewel shard nearby either. We don't even know where we're going yet."

"Maybe not, but at least we'll get there faster. You humans are so slow."

Kagome let out a frustrated sigh that tickled the fine fur on his ear, sending a shiver down the back of his neck. "You're impossible," she announced. "If we get attacked, we'll be too worn out from this pace to fight back."

"Would you stop nagging, wench? You ain't got nothin' to complain about, anyway. I'm the one carrying you."

"And what about poor Kirara? She has to carry everyone else in order for them to keep up, and how… _ack_!"

Kagome cut off abruptly and started coughing hard. The noises coming from her were quite alarming, and not liking the idea of being coughed all over, Inuyasha craned his neck to try to see over his shoulder. "Hey wench! What's goin' on back there?"

Kagome didn't answer, but continued to cough and choke, and he started to get concerned. "Are you okay?"

Still no answer. Worried now, he slowed to a stop and let her down off his back so he could turn and examine her. She showed no sign of injury, and she smelled alright; in fact, she seemed pretty normal except for the fact that she was kneeling in the grass, gagging and choking with her hand at her throat. Kirara landed nearby carrying Sango, Miroku, and Shippou, all of whom showed varying degrees of concern and curiosity.

"Kagome? What happened?" Inuyasha tried again, still with no reply. He sniffed the air suddenly, trying to detect any trace of miasma or some other fume that would leave her gasping like this. Nothing.

Kagome finally stopped coughing and sat silently with her hand still resting against her throat.

"What the hell was that, wench?" Inuyasha demanded, relieved that she seemed to have recovered but still wary of some sort of threat.

Kagome looked up at him, eyes wide, with a slightly traumatized expression that made Inuyasha's worries return with a vengeance. What could have happened to put her in such a state?

"I think…" she started hesitantly in a small voice, and he leaned forward a bit, impatiently awaiting her explanation.

"I think I just swallowed a bug."

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**AN -** And we're off to a wonderful start! 


	2. Honesty

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** Inuyasha isn't hard to understand. Sept. 13, 2007.

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**The Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Honesty**

How in the world could Kikyou have believed Naraku's scheme?

Kagome had always wondered this. How could Kikyou have doubted Inuyasha? Inuyasha, treacherous? Inuyasha, a betrayer? The notion was ridiculous!

Inuyasha was not subtle. Even when he thought he was being sneaky he was woefully obvious. There wasn't a dishonest bone in his body, which made him a very poor liar. Inuyasha couldn't be more transparent if he tried.

How could Kikyou, who claimed to have loved him, have so misunderstood his nature? Kagome understood him perfectly.

It was not in the nature of a dog to deceive or betray.

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**A/N:** A perfect drabble – exactly 100 words. Being so brief is not my strong suit, so I am quite pleased with the end result. 


	3. Paradise

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** Rin must be in heaven. Sept. 13, 2007.

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**The Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Paradise**

Rin stood on the forest path, looking at the scene before her. Everything was quiet now, and she was all alone. The wolves had already run off again, bellies too full from devouring the villagers to bother eating the measly scrap of a child they had brought down. Rin crouched in front of the still, bloodied body, looking at the gruesome wounds with morbid fascination. She touched her throat, staring at the torn flesh of the body.

_Here… they had bitten Rin here…_

But Rin's throat was whole now, and there was no blood on her kimono. There was no pain at all; even the bruises from the beating she'd been given for stealing were gone. The terror was fading fast, and the body lying on the forest floor was of less and less concern to her. Rin was fine now, although it would have been nice to see the pale, injured man in the forest again. Somehow she had thought that if she could just get to him, everything would be alright. She supposed the wolves had probably found him and eaten him by now. No one else had escaped. The thought made her a little sad, but that was fading too.

The sound of a pipe drifted to her ears, and the body was easily forgotten as she tried to find the source of the music. Walking, then running towards the sound, she came across a strange being with a round body and feathery tail, playing its flute with its eyes closed to slits. As it floated above the ground, children from the village followed behind, laughing and playing. Rin hesitated at the sight. She was wary of these children, although it was difficult to remember why right now. She felt like they might be mean to her, but when they saw her they only laughed and called out to her to come and play. She hurried forward, feeling surprisingly pleased to be invited, and they moved to accommodate her, to include her in their games. Even still, something nagged at the back of her mind.

_Why is Rin here?_

"_You are dead, child."_

She looked around for the speaker.

"_I am the Soul Piper, and I play for the children who have died. You may stay with me until you are ready to accept your death and move on."_

The voice seemed to speak directly into her head without going through her ears, and her eyes landed on the strange creature in front of her. Although it continued to play its pipe and its mouth did not move, she somehow knew that it was the one who spoke.

For a while Rin skipped and jumped with the other children, dancing to the beautiful music. The children were nice, and they didn't seem to mind that she didn't speak. For a time she forgot all her cares and questions, and simply played. What could be more important?

Thoughts started to creep back in. She was dead. That much was easy enough to believe. She could stay. She was wanted. But if she moved on… to where? _Will Rin see Haha-ue and Chichi-ue and Ani-ue again? Is Rin going to heaven? What happens now?_

She wouldn't find out if she stayed here. She also couldn't help but feel that things had happened to her in life that would make death pretty easy to accept, although these memories were vague and fuzzy too. Coming to a decision, she closed her eyes tightly and made her choice.

_Alright. Rin is ready._

Rin felt safe. She was warm, and there was an arm around her. She hadn't been held in a very long time.

She opened her eyes, expecting to see Chichi-ue or Haha-ue, or even Ani-ue. Instead, the world went white, and gold eyes stared into hers. It was the pale, beautiful man from the woods, cradling her, watching her, and she forgot to breathe for a moment.

_He escaped the wolves,_ she thought with wild happiness, as he set her on her feet and straightened up. She had to look up a long way to see his face. He was so tall and strong!

_But of course he escaped, that would have been easy for him,_ she corrected herself, watching as he turned gracefully and started to walk away, all pristine white clothes and fluffy ivory fur and swishing silver hair. _This is heaven, after all, and he is an angel._

She followed.

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**A/N:** I was watching episode 12 (the episode with the Soul Piper) and this just popped into my head almost fully formed. Just to clarify, I'm quite sure Rin would not persist in the belief she is in heaven very long, but it makes for a very interesting temporary idea. Also, I am fully aware that she retains all her memories after being resurrected (we have evidence of this in her fear of wolves and in episode 162 when she talks about her family's deaths, but while she is dead, I chose to make these memories more and more vague for her. A symbolic "letting go". 


	4. Hands

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** Experimental series of related drabbles, centering on the theme of "hands". Each one is from a different perspective. Oct. 8, 2007.

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**The Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Hands**

Her hands, small but strong, can swing a hammer just as well as they swing Hiraikotsu, and she works steadily to repair her fallen village. With the heavy beam braced upright, she swiftly pounds the iron nails into place, one-by-one, until the structure is secure again. She stops to rest, lost in thought.

Her hands are ungentle, warrior's hands, but Houshi-sama would have her bear his children one day nonetheless. She thinks of his hands, and wishes that they would stroke her face, her arms, her back, instead of her bottom. She blushes at the thought, and resumes her work.

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He remembers his father's hand when he stares at his own — the thrill of childish fascination, and how the curse took his father's life. 

But his curse will not get the better of him. Naraku will be defeated; he must believe it, or give up all hope. When that day comes he will have peace, and marry Sango, and raise a dozen uncursed children. And he will build Sango a house, clear a field, and grow the food for his table, all with his own two hands. Until then, these hands would defend his friends, labouring towards Naraku's eventual demise.

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She practices until her fingers ache, the draw, aim, and release a familiar pattern. Each time she tries to make the motion a little smoother, the aim a little surer, the result a little better. Once she could not imagine herself as a capable archer. Now she can hardly remember when she wasn't. 

She rests, and examines her hands critically. They are calloused, not like those of her school friends. They are not meant to lie smoothly on fine silks. Briefly, she feels the loss of something she cannot quite name, before she puts it aside and continues to practice.

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His hands are too small to defend the group, and he covers feelings of uselessness with sarcasm and mischief, because what else is he good for but making others laugh? Jealously, he compares his hands to Inuyasha's — the short, chubby fingers, the small, weak nails, laughable in contrast to the hanyou's strong, capable hands and wickedly curved claws. He rails against the idea of being a burden. 

Kirara butts her head against his hand demandingly, and he thinks perhaps his hands are not so useless after all, as he reaches out to scratch that one spot Kirara can't quite reach.

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He tends to watch other people's hands, unconsciously wary of movement, a habit acquired from a childhood full of cruel blows, thrown objects and deadly claws. He's still not sure when he stopped watching Kagome's hands, but she manages to surprise him every time she goes for the ears. Trust, others would explain, but he has no words for it. 

His youkai blood does not know trust. Kagome does not care. Trust works both ways, he realizes when his mind is his own again, shuddering as he remembers how she placed herself in reach of his claws, and emerged unscathed.

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She does not have hands. She has no arms to embrace and comfort her mistress, no clever fingers to create cunning weapons or beautiful art. But she is content, and wants for nothing. 

Her claws and teeth suffice to defend the group. She can comfort others with a touch, a rub of the cheek, or by winding her tails around their ankles. When they despair, she can cheer them with the amusement of watching her play. And when the nights are long and cold and full of shadows, she can warm a little fox kit with her thick, soft fur.

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**A/N:** Six drabbles, each for a different member of the group, and each exactly 100 words. This was a really fun idea to plan out and play with while constraining myself to drabble-length pieces. It forces you to be clear and concise with very little wiggle-room. I was especially keen to include Kirara's point of view, since all too often she gets relegated to the role of "faithful steed" or "beast of burden". It was interesting to try to convey each person's personality in such a limited number of words. 


	5. Mystery

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** Kagome has a question. Oct. 8, 2007.

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**The Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Mystery**

"Inuyasha?"

The hanyou beside her takes his eyes away from the fire and rolls off his side onto his stomach, propping himself up on his elbows to better see her face.

"What?"

Thoughtfully, she examines the fabric of the red robe of the fire-rat which he has draped over her shoulders to ward off the cold. Something has been nagging at her for some time.

"What does a fire-rat look like?"

He stares at her for a moment, opens his mouth to speak, then closes it again, silent.

"You don't know either, do you?" she deduces with sudden glee.

"Keh."

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**A/N:** Another drabble. I've always wondered this. 

**By the way**, does anyone know why the chapter drop-down menu at the bottom of this story doesn't show up? I can only see the one at the top.


	6. Battle Scars

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** Inuyasha reacts to the sight of the scars left by his claws on Kagome's arms. References to the 2nd movie, so if you haven't seen it (where have you been keeping yourself?), watch it! It's good. Nov. 20, 2007.

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**The Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Battle Scars**

Inuyasha's clothes stuck uncomfortably to his body with sweat as he exited the well house. It had been hot enough back in his own era, but here the heat and humidity was like running into a stone wall. He almost turned back then. After all, surely Kagome wouldn't want to stay here too long in weather like this when she could be more comfortable in his era. Did he really need to come get her?

But knowing her, she'd probably find some reason to delay her return if he didn't come after her. Sneaky wench. If it wasn't for the fact that she had family in this era, he'd have tried to convince her to never go back here. Well, except to get ramen.

He crossed the shrine-grounds quickly, eager to get inside the nice, shady house. A single bound brought him up onto the frame of Kagome's open window, and he peered into the room to see if it was safe to enter. Kagome had a habit of subjugating him or throwing things while shrieking at a painful volume if he barged in at an inopportune moment.

All was safe, however, because Kagome was lying on her stomach on her bed, reading out of a book. For a moment, though, he really wasn't sure, because the outfit she was wearing was even more indecent than her usual clothing. On the bottom, she was wearing a fitted garment that only served to cover her ass and maybe two inches of each leg. Her feet and long legs were otherwise completely bare. This was not much more indecent than that skirt she usually wore, although it was quite a bit tighter. But on her top half, she wore such a skimpy top that nothing was left to the imagination. The thin material clung to her body, and the skinny straps that held it up concealed nothing. The angle she was laying at meant that as soon as he looked in her direction, he was confronted with the deep, shadowed cleft between her breasts. His eyes fastened there and didn't want to move elsewhere, even while his brain shouted in the background that he was _sooo_ gonna get _sat_ if she caught him looking.

He finally managed to wrench his gaze away and look at her face instead, just as she looked up and noticed his presence.

"I suppose you've come to take me back," she said with a sigh, looking back down at her book and lazily turning the page. She didn't seem overly annoyed with him. Maybe the heat was making her sleepy.

"You said two days, and today's the second day," Inuyasha replied. "Get your stuff."

Kagome huffed, an exasperated sound, but didn't argue as she closed her book and stared up at him, resting her chin in her palm. "Is it any cooler there?" she asked, not making any move to get up.

"Yes, now come on," he said irritably.

"You're probably just saying that," she muttered, but she rolled to her feet in a move that seemed to use as little energy as possible. She stretched out her slender arms and arched her back, yawning, and Inuyasha tried not to stare (and failed) as this motion thrust her breasts in his direction.

He thought about telling her to put some clothes on, but it occurred to him that he'd really prefer that she didn't, at least until right before they left. She certainly wasn't wearing that in his era, especially around Miroku. But for right now… well, what was it hurting?

She turned away from him, visually searching the room for things she needed to pack, and as she did, her bare shoulder came into his line of sight. Marring her smooth skin, five little white scars formed a pattern at the top of her arm, four on the back, and one up high on the front. He frowned, searching his memory…

An uncomfortable feeling dropped into the pit of his stomach, but he tried to ignore it, waiting for her to turn. However, when she did so a moment later, allowing him to see her other arm, there was no fooling himself. She had a matching set of scars on her other arm, and he knew what had caused them.

As if under a spell, he reached out and touched one of the scars, but the sight of his claws near her skin made him cringe and he immediately drew away. She turned at the contact in surprise, and stared at him for a moment, perplexed.

"What's the matter?" she asked, trying to follow his line of sight.

"Your arms," he clarified after a moment, during which time his tongue seemed to cleave to the roof of his mouth. "I did that."

"Hmmm?" She looked down at the scars. "Oh, that. It's nothing, really."

How could she be so casual about it? When Kaguya had nearly turned him permanently into a bloodthirsty beast, there hadn't been time until after her defeat to realize that Kagome's arms were bleeding, or that her blood was under his claws. The guilt had been gut wrenching, and he'd tended the wounds himself, going so far as to snarl viciously at Sango when she offered to help. He had the suspicion that they'd all thought his youkai blood was still running high in the aftermath of his transformation, and maybe they were right. But he'd been himself when he'd flashed his teeth and growled the taijiya away. He remembered quite clearly.

But he hadn't known the wounds had scarred. Why was Kagome pretending the scars were nothing? She would have those marks forever now, a constant reminder of how dangerous and uncontrolled he was. The thought made his stomach churn.

He found his voice again. "You shoulda never come near me when I transformed," he said tightly.

"I'd do it again in a heartbeat," she answered resolutely, and then blushed a second later when she remembered just how she'd gone about stopping his transformation.

"I coulda killed you," he whispered urgently. "You stupid girl…"

"You wouldn't have," she said, with a certainty that scared him.

"I hurt you."

She looked down at her arms again. "The scars don't bother me," she said. He must have looked disbelieving, because she smiled. "They really don't. In a weird way, I'm almost… proud of them."

"Huh?" Was she crazy?

"I just feel sort of useless, sometimes," Kagome confided. "Sure, I can purify things and I have my arrows, but that won't help in some situations. I'm not a good fighter. But I managed to help you that day. And if a few little scars are the only price I had to pay to bring you back, it was well worth the trouble. They're my battle scars. Marks of honour. When I look at them, I remember that I'm not completely useless."

"You could have _died_," he said emphatically. "And I'd have been the one that did it. You're so stupid! You should want to be as far away from me as you can get!"

"I'm not afraid of you, Inuyasha," she said.

"You should be!"

Losing her patience with him, she did something he didn't see coming. Grabbing his right hand, she put his sharp claws against her throat and held his hand in place. "You don't scare me," she said again, staring him in the eyes.

He tried to pull his hand away, but she clung tighter, and he was afraid to pull any harder in case he hurt her.

"I won't break," she said, and she stepped closer. He stepped back. "I might only be human, but I'm stronger than I look."

She took another step forward, and his backward step bumped him into the wall. She took one more step, and he managed to get his hand free and gripped her shoulders with both hands to keep her at a distance. She looked down at his hands, which covered the scars, and then quirked a little smile at him, her cheeks quite pink.

"This seems familiar," she remarked, and as his mind caught up with how they were standing and what she had said, she completed the similarity by stretching up on her toes and kissing him on the mouth.

It was different than when she'd kissed him in Kaguya's castle; this was the first thought that entered his mind. Before, he'd been mostly distracted by his transformation, and it had been all claws and fangs and chaotic thoughts. He didn't even remember all that much about it, except at the end when he'd regained control of his sanity and taken the opportunity to kiss her back just a little. Even then, he'd still been pretty disoriented. But this time, he was fully aware of everything about the experience, and he liked it very much. Her lips were so soft, and her scent was all around him. He found himself clutching her to his chest, as if afraid she might suddenly disappear. She took him by surprise when the tip of her warm tongue hesitantly traced his lips, seeking entrance — he'd never been kissed that way before (not that he'd done a lot of kissing) — but he caught on pretty quickly.

It was a long, long moment before she pulled away from him again. She was blushing, but she didn't look away.

"I'm not afraid of you," she said again. "Now did you get my meaning, or should I repeat the lesson?"

He took a moment to realize what she was offering. Then he grinned.

"Well, I _am_ a slow learner."

**::Owari::

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**A/N:** You have to wonder how Inuyasha would have reacted to injuring Kagome in the 2nd movie. I think he probably would have been horrified.

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	7. Words Unsaid

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** The brothers think about each other, and the words they'll never say. Dec. 10, 2007.

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**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Words Unsaid**

When I was a kid, I wanted to stay with you.

I think you knew that, although I'm not sure why I think so. You never said anything, and it didn't stop you from beating the shit out of me when our paths crossed. You never bothered to explain why you did that, either. I was only a kid. Was I really so disgusting to you?

You never tried to kill me back then, though. Did I mean anything to you? Or was it just because children were beneath your notice? I suppose you didn't want to tarnish your honour by killing a kid, even if that kid was me. Of all the things I've seen you do or heard about later, killing kids has never been one of them. And now you let that human girl trail after you. She seems happy. You even protect her. What is it about her that's so tolerable to you? Why is she good enough, when I…?

That's the past. I don't care anymore what your reasons were. You've always hated me, and that's all I need to know.

I hate you too. Most of the time, I hate you. You, and your perfect youkai blood, and your perfect, fancy words, and your perfect, cold expression. And I hate that there's a part of me that wishes you didn't hate me.

There's stuff I'm sure you could answer, that I can never ask you.

What was Oyaji like? Was he brave? Was he really so strong? Stronger than even you? What was it like to grow up with him watching over you? How much did he teach you? What do I still not know? Was he proud of you? Would he have been proud of me? Did he love me? He must have loved you.

But even if I swallowed my pride long enough to try asking, you'd never bend your proud neck enough to give me a straight answer. So I ain't gonna ask, and you'll never tell me on your own. So we argue, and we fight, and we bleed (and yes, I've made _you_ bleed too, haven't I? I ain't as weak as you thought), and it never ends. I don't even want to kill you, really; at least, not anymore. Sometimes I think you seem reluctant too. After all, you've had opportunities, and you haven't done it yet. But we don't stop fighting, either. We'll probably keep on fighting until we're both dead, 'cause we're both too stubborn to be the first to die. Still, no one will win that way. Dead is dead.

You're the only family I have left, and we can't even fucking stand each other. It's a shit life, ain't it?

If Oyaji had lived, would things have been any different between us?

**::oo::oo::oo::oo::**

It seems that every time I look at you, you're doing something impossible.

Just like Chichi-ue.

Clad in Chichi-ue's red hunting clothes and holding Tetsusaiga, you could almost pass for him, if only you were taller, and if those ridiculous ears didn't give it away. I'd have said it was impossible for a hanyou to look like a Taiyoukai, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.

The impossible. Like a hanyou brat managing to feed and defend himself. Like a half-human wielding Chichi-ue's fang. Like a half-breed adolescent defeating Ryuukotsusei, who even Chichi-ue himself could only seal, and only at great injury to his person.

Impossible like a hanyou surviving to adulthood.

They almost never did. Hanyou were actually disgustingly common. They simply didn't live very long, usually due to the large number of youkai and humans who would like to be rid of them. This was especially true of orphaned hanyou. But somehow, with mixed blood, and appalling manners, and the vocabulary of a peasant, you managed it. You survived.

How _did_ you manage it, I wonder? You'd never tell me if I asked. You certainly didn't accomplish it with my assistance, and the resentment in your eyes is even stronger than the hate. I left you to fend for yourself as a pup because I saw you as weak, and the weak have no place in this world. You probably would have suffered less if you'd simply died young, and it would have solved several of my problems. But somehow, you clawed your way out of childhood kicking and screaming, and lived. No one anticipated that (and for all your ignorance of the fact, the upper ranks of youkai society do indeed know your name, and have been watching with increasing interest). Your survival was an achievement in complete defiance of the odds. Or as you might describe it, the ultimate "Fuck you, world!"

There are things I will never say to you, things I cannot bring myself to utter. To do so would cost me my pride, and in the end I would gain nothing. It's too late now to go back. Even if I was inclined to do so, saying these things would change nothing between us.

You're not weak anymore. Maybe you never were. Certainly, you are still young and foolish, and you are still no match for my power. But when I think back, was I any more powerful as an adolescent than you are right now? You regularly defeat full-blooded youkai in battle who ought to be your superiors in strength. And your power continues to grow — slowly, steadily, building towards something that promises to make the world take pause. If you continue as you have been, perhaps one day we might meet on equal terms, little brother.

It ought to be impossible. Hanyou just aren't that powerful. It simply doesn't happen.

If I'd been asked not so very long ago whether I could ever respect a hanyou, I'd have said that was impossible as well.

But you've made a habit of doing the impossible, haven't you?

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	8. As Sleeping Dogs Lie

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** Inuyasha dreams. Dec. 14, 2007.

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**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**As Sleeping Dogs Lie**

Inuyasha had always been prone to vivid dreams, ever since he was a child.

This wasn't necessarily a good thing, because he'd always been prone to nightmares as well — the troubles and fears and worries he suppressed during the day working their way to the forefront while he slept. But other times he dreamt of ordinary things; everyday stuff, crazy stuff, weird things and frustrating things and things that just confused him.

It was through dreams that he was first forced to confront the fact that he was, in essence, split.

He usually dreamt of himself as he normally was. Just a regular hanyou. Sometimes he was fighting things, sometimes he was talking to people or going somewhere. But in these dreams he was essentially himself. There was nothing remarkable about them.

Since he was little, he'd also dreamt of himself as a human. The dreams had been as unsettling as his human transformation while he was a child, probably because it was a form he associated with fear. After his mother's death, the dreams had been full-blown nightmares for years, usually involving him being found by enemies on his human night, or turning human when it wasn't the new moon, often when he was under attack. But as time had passed, his human form had introduced itself into his regular dreams, and the nightmares had diminished.

He'd dreamt of what it might be like to be a full youkai, but he'd never dreamt of himself in his real full youkai form until after he'd slaughtered the bandits. Those dreams were strange, because he didn't have basis for comparison, given that he never remembered anything from when he actually transformed. But they were utterly terrifying. He usually awoke, gasping, and started searching the area for his companions, testing their sleeping scents repeatedly until he could convince himself that he hadn't harmed anyone. More than once he'd spent several panic-stricken moments searching frantically for Kagome, before remembering that she'd gone through the well to write more of her tests. But lately, his youkai form had started to appear in ordinary dreams too. He'd had a dream the other night that he'd shown up in Kagome's world as a full youkai. But he'd been oddly peaceful, sitting at the table eating ramen with the rest of Kagome's family, while Souta peppered him with questions that Kagome had to answer for him, because his fangs were too big and got in the way when he tried to talk…well, anyway, it was bizarre.

He wasn't just hanyou. He wasn't just human and youkai either. He was all three combined, and it was something he'd slowly begun to acknowledge. But there were other dreams, too — had always been, ever since he was just a tiny whelp.

Dreams of fur and fangs, howling and moonlight. Something primitive came to light that was not hanyou or human or youkai. He raced through the nighttime forests of his mind, usually alone, but sometimes with Others who were also fur and fangs and flashes of silver. He ran on, following the cool, dark scents of midnight on the wind, as the firm earth and soft grass thudded under his feet.

And if he awoke, feeling oddly claustrophobic, and took a few moments to work out whether he had two feet or four, that was understandable. He was trapped in this form. Even his full youkai form was limited to a body much like his usual hanyou shape. But inside, he wasn't just hanyou and human and youkai. He was also _Dog_.

He would never be able to assume the true form shared by his brother and father, the canine form of his youkai blood. But that was alright. When night fell, he could slip his chain; he raced the midnight wind, and bayed down the moon, dreaming of silver fur and teeth.

**::Owari::

* * *

**

**AN:** I don't really have much to say about this one. I think it speaks for itself. Take from it what you will.

* * *


	9. Blanket

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** A response to blanket-fics. Dec. 16, 2007.

* * *

**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Blanket**

The wind howled outside, rattling the walls of the tiny, dilapidated hut. The storm showed no sign of abating, but for the moment, all was well. The driving snow had filled all the cracks in the walls and roof, preventing the draught from entering. The small fire sputtered fitfully, struggling to keep the damp wood burning, but the little building was warm enough now not to need it.

Kagome stared at the ceiling idly from where she lay stretched out on her back, wrapped up warmly in the thick, slightly moth-eaten and mouse-nibbled blanket they'd found in the hut. If you'd asked her this morning where she'd expected to be tonight, this situation would have never occurred to her. She marvelled at how strange it was that the world could change so drastically without warning, and in such a short amount of time.

Warm and comfortable as she was, it was getting a bit difficult to breathe. She shifted a little, inhaling deeply and releasing a big sigh.

"Am I too heavy?"

She smiled in the direction of the ceiling. "Just a little," she answered, rubbing his ear fondly so he'd know that she really didn't mind.

He nuzzled her, sighing contentedly. Planting his hands on the floor on either side of her, he lifted his head up off her breast where his cheek had been pillowed and propped himself up on his elbows. Inuyasha met her eyes and gave her a sleepy, affectionate, satisfied smile, blushing a little. Or maybe he was still flushed from earlier.

She smiled back, and knew that _she_ was definitely blushing. Inuyasha scooted forward to press a languid kiss on her collarbone, her throat, her jaw, and as he slid against her, the motion reminded her that his lean hips were still bracketed by her thighs, their legs still tangled together. She rubbed her ankle up and down his calf as his trail of kisses finally made its way to her mouth.

When they broke apart, he rolled to the side, relieving her of his weight. He pulled her with him, enfolding her in his arms and tucking her in closely to his chest. She craned her neck so that she could still see his face, and he just watched her contentedly with half-hooded eyes, his expression utterly relaxed. She smiled again into his chest. He really was a hedonist at heart.

Outside, the storm raged on, spending its fury uselessly against the wooden walls.

"Lucky we found this hut," she murmured.

He quirked a lazy, sated grin at her. "Lucky there was only one blanket," he replied.

**::Owari::

* * *

**

**A/N:** The Blanket-fic. You know the type. Kagome and Inuyasha (or occasionally other pairings) are caught in a storm and risk death by hypothermia until finding shelter with only one blanket between them. There is usually some shedding of wet clothes and sharing of body heat. One thing usually leads to another. Oops!

I love blanket-fics, because I'm a big sap at heart. I also like making fun of such clichés.

* * *


	10. Providing

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** Money is tight in the Higurashi household. Jan. 8, 2008.

* * *

**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Providing**

Inuyasha sprang across the stone-paved courtyard and approached the house, ears trained on the building already. Kagome might not even be home yet; she'd asked for four days to write her tests, and it had only been three and a half. But she usually got out of her school in the mid-afternoon, so she should be here already if she'd come straight home. If not, he'd just go track her down and bring her home to pack. He hoped he wouldn't need to. He hated having to wear the hat.

As he neared the front door, he caught the familiar sound of her voice coming though the open kitchen window. He paused, listening intently as her mother responded. Their voices sounded stressed; they were fairly calm, not panicky or frightened, but there was still a note of anxiety that made him furrow his brow. Slowly, he walked around the perimeter of the house and stood by the window, just out of sight.

"Well, at least the loan is paid off now," Kagome was saying. "That's one less thing to worry about."

"We'll just need to be careful about how we spend money for the next year or so," Higurashi-san said. "If we only buy the essentials and don't eat out too often, we should be able to make a go of it. I'll start watching for sales a little more closely."

"Will I need to give up soccer?" Souta spoke up, sounding more worried than his mother. "I know it costs a lot to be on the team. If it'll help…"

"Then you'll have time to train as a shrine priest instead," spoke up Higurashi-jijii, sounding enthusiastic.

"You won't need to give up soccer, Souta," Higurashi-san said, and Inuyasha could picture the admonishing look she'd be aiming at the old man out of the corner of her eye. "I've budgeted for that. I wouldn't ask you to give that up except as a last resort."

"I can start saving my pocket money for more important things," Kagome announced. "I'll tell the girls I can't go to WacDonald's so often when I'm here, and I'll stop buying so much snack food to take with me when I go through the well. Shippou-chan needs to stop eating so much junk food anyway. And I'll use my own money to stock up the first aid kit, so you don't need to worry about that, Mama."

"We'll be just fine," Higurashi-san replied. "I know you'll all help."

Inuyasha stood still, absorbing everything he'd just heard, as the sounds of Kagome, Souta, and Higurashi-jijii leaving the room washed over him. Kagome's family was running out of money? And a loan? He understood what that was, at least. They'd had to borrow money, and now that they'd paid it back they didn't have enough left over. Kagome had said that the people running Nihon (did they still have lords? He wasn't sure) gave them some money towards running the shrine, and they made additional money from the part time job Higurashi-san had taken and from the things Higurashi-jijii sold to "tourists" who visited the shrine. Kagome also said that sometimes people donated money to the shrine too, but that they couldn't really count on that money. But there seemed to be so many things in this era to spend money on. It baffled him. People lived so close together that they couldn't even grow their own food here. The shrine grounds were paved with stone, so the only room for a garden was out back, and it was too small to be very useful. Higurashi-san mostly grew strawberries and some herbs for cooking.

He suddenly wondered how much ramen cost. Had he unknowingly been worsening their situation? He'd never thought about repaying Kagome's family for feeding him. Sometimes he helped out the old man around the shrine when he was bored, waiting for Kagome to come home. Sometimes Kagome's mother asked him to help her with things, like lifting up furniture while she cleaned under it. But none of that helped repay them for spending money on him.

At one time he wouldn't have cared. But now, the idea of the family who'd practically adopted him (to the extent that he let them, anyway) going without, while he could get everything he needed with relative ease… It went against something fundamental in him. What kind of man would he be to allow something like that?

Everything was quiet inside the kitchen now, and Inuyasha got curious. Slowly, he leaned over to peek in the window, half-expecting the kitchen to be empty. But inside, still seated at the table, was Higurashi-san. She wasn't quite facing him, but he could see her face as she studied the pile of papers in front of her. No doubt she'd been hiding it before, but the subtle clues he had picked up on from her voice were now showing in her expression — faint stress marks around her mouth, worry lines creasing her brow, frustration evident in the tightness of the skin around her eyes. And underlying it all, a sort of sadness that reminded him so keenly of the way Haha-ue used to look when she'd speak of Oyaji. Was Higurashi-san missing her mate as Haha-ue had missed hers?

His mind made up, he went back around the outside of the house again and jumped up onto Kagome's window sill, startling a gasp out of her. He perched there for a minute, working out how much he wanted to reveal.

"Stay here another day," he told her finally. "I've got something I need to take care of."

"What…?" she started to ask, but he let himself drop back to the ground and took off for the well.

* * *

"Higurashi-san?"

As Inuyasha stuck his head in the door to the kitchen, Kagome's mother looked up from the sink where she was washing the breakfast dishes.

"Inuyasha-kun!" she greeted him. "Are you here for Kagome? She just left for school."

"I know," he said, feeling nervous. "I gotta show ya something."

She looked at him curiously as she dried her hands on a towel, but she followed him outside without protest. He led her to the well house, where he opened the doors and showed her what he'd brought through with him.

She stared for a minute, not quite sure what she was looking at. Inuyasha's nervousness grew.

"What's all this?" Higurashi-san asked, seeming bewildered.

"A good-sized deer, five hares, some ducks and pheasants, and a bunch a' fish," he said. "It's all been gutted and skinned — or plucked, scaled, whatever. I just need to know how ya want it cut up."

"This is all for me?"

Inuyasha watched her expression carefully. "Kagome told me once that yeh can keep food for ages in that big cold box. I can bring more when this is all gone. Do you like boar meat?"

Higurashi-san turned wide, surprised eyes towards him. "But why…" Her eyes suddenly narrowed. "Did Kagome tell you about the money?"

"No," Inuyasha said. He hesitated while she looked sceptical. "I came yesterday and heard yeh all talking in the kitchen," he admitted.

Higurashi-san's expression turned reserved. "This is very generous of you, but I can't accept any charity," she said, averting her eyes, and he was horrified to see shame on her face.

"It ain't charity!" he hastened to explain. "I wanna buy some ramen from ya, only I don't got any money, so I'll trade ya instead."

"Inuyasha-kun, this is worth far more than all the ramen you've ever eaten," Higurashi-san declared quietly, still not looking at him. "And I've never expected any reimbursement for that. You're a part of the family."

Inuyasha tried to ignore just how pleased her announcement made him feel. "Well, in my era I'm old enough to be an adult, so if I'm part of the family, then as a man it's my job to make sure yeh've all got enough, ain't it? So it can't be charity, unless yer lyin' about me bein' part of the family. Y'ain't lyin', are ya?"

"Of course not," she replied. "But…"

"Well then, that's settled."

She seemed to give up at that point, and finally looked him in the eye again. "Arigatou gozaimasu, Inuyasha-san," she said, and to his renewed horror, she bowed quite deeply.

He wanted to make her stop. Someone like her shouldn't be bowing to the likes of him. Worse still, when she straightened up, her eyes were shining with tears, and his first, panicked thought was that she was nearly as bad as Kagome. Thankfully she didn't cry. She did, however, hug him, which was almost as embarrassing as if she had started crying. At least she wasn't doing both.

"Here, quit it," he protested weakly, getting hold of her arms and carefully peeling her off. She visibly got herself under control and offered a smile. This was more familiar territory. "Now show me how ya want all this cut up. Yeh'll never get a deer in that cold box whole."

**:: Owari ::

* * *

**

**Translations:**

Jijii – rude way of referring to an old man/grandfather

Nihon – Japan

Haha-ue – mother, respectful and archaic word

Oyaji – father, rude word (usually translated as "my old man")

Arigatou gozaimasu – thank you, very polite, formal

* * *


	11. Apprentice

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** A miko's life is not as exciting as one might expect. Jan. 11, 2008.

* * *

**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Apprentice**

"Sorry!"

Kaede resisted the urge to sigh as young Kagome apologized for the twelfth time to the villager who was wincing before her. When the young man had cut his arm while sharpening a tool, she'd thought him the perfect subject upon which to teach Kagome to stitch a wound. He was a grown man, and thus more likely to be stoic in the face of pain than a woman and less likely to cry or thrash than a child. But apparently he was a flincher, and every time Kagome passed the needle through the edges of the wound, he would wince and Kagome would apologize. Then it would repeat. And so on.

"Am I doing okay?" Kagome asked for the third time, looking up at Kaede again.

"Aye, ye are doing fine, child," Kaede told her. "If thy stitches were any neater, ye could probably turn Keizo-san into a silk kimono." And the girl was being much gentler than Kaede probably would have been.

Reassured, Kagome turned back to her work.

_Flinch!_

"Sorry!"

Kaede withheld another sigh.

But Kagome was a good student, despite her apologetic nature. She didn't complain or protest about any of the things Kaede told her she should learn. In Kaede's experience, that was a rare quality indeed.

Kaede had taken other apprentices in the past, and had noticed something most of them had in common. They came to her as young girls, usually no older than ten summers, and with their heads filled with what seemed to be fluff and little else. It was not that they were unintelligent — far from it — but they all had a romanticized notion of what being a miko was all about.

They all wanted to fire arrows, and purify youkai, and exorcise evil spirits, and put up strong barriers, and all the other flashy skills that had captured their fertile imaginations. As though being a miko was a thrilling sort of life. If she was honest with herself, she'd been little different as a child, even though travelling with Kikyou had cured her of these notions at a younger age.

In truth, a miko's life was 10 percent excitement and 90 percent gathering and preparing herbs; tending to the injured, ill, and infirm; reassuring one paranoid mother that little Chiyo-chan's constant sniffles were not life threatening; repeatedly (and to no avail) explaining to Jiro-san that his chronic constipation would clear up if he would just modify his diet a little; dispensing advice to the confused, fearful, grief-stricken, and lovelorn; making offerings to the gods; performing blessings; conducting funerals; delivering babies to panicked first-time mothers or bored fifth-time mothers or disgruntled eighth-time mothers; helping to make decisions about the rice storage; discussing the hints and clues in the behaviour of birds and animals with other village elders to try to predict what sort of winter they would endure; and a myriad of other small, everyday tasks that young girls tended to overlook completely, because they were simply too boring to notice.

There were a thousand things that could threaten a village aside from mononoke. It was a miko's job to be prepared for any of them.

Some apprentices had given up early, disillusioned. Some had trained for a while, but turned aside when they fell in love and married. Some had completed their training and gone on to offer their services in other villages. Some had apprentices of their own now. Some had died young battling youkai, or from sickness, or from injury.

"There, finished!"

Kaede inspected the wound, noting the straight, evenly-spaced stitches as Kagome sat nearby waiting for her verdict with bated breath.

"This is well done, Kagome. Ye may rub some of this ointment into the wound and put a dressing over it to keep it clean."

Beaming with pleasure, Kagome applied the salve and wrapped the wound with a bandage as Kaede conveyed some final instructions to Keizo-san regarding how he was to care for the injury. He was quite grateful now that his treatment had ended, and thanked them both profusely before leaving. A miko never required payment for her services, but a small game bird or some fish would almost certainly arrive on Kaede's doorstep later in the week.

"Thank you so much for teaching me this," Kagome said when they were alone again in the hut. "I know I should probably put more practice in with my bow, or creating a barrier, but sometimes things like this seem more valuable to me. Youkai aren't the only danger in this world. I like knowing I might be able to help my friends with something that doesn't need purified."

Kagome was indeed different from Kaede's other pupils. She enthusiastically soaked up any and all of the more mundane wisdom that Kaede passed her way, sometimes even expanding Kaede's own knowledge with helpful information from her era. For example, Kaede herself had always been careful about good hygiene, given the nature of her occupation, but since Kagome had first arrived in this era, such simple practices as frequent hand-washing had increased tenfold among the villagers. Even the most sceptical had stopped protesting after the first winter, upon seeing with their own eyes that the spread of illnesses had been substantially diminished. Kagome seemed to regard the sort of skills that made life better on a day-to-day basis as equally important as proficiency with a bow or the best ways to channel her miko powers. Perhaps it was because she was older and more mature than most of Kaede's past apprentices. Or perhaps it was because she spent so much of her time battling youkai, which was far more perilous and terrifying and not nearly as glamorous as most bright-eyed young apprentices seemed to believe.

"You're such a wonderful teacher, Kaede-baa-chan," Kagome went on. "I wish my school teachers were half as good as you. Thank you."

"If I instruct ye with ease, it is due to having such an eager and capable student," Kaede replied with an affectionate pat on the girl's shoulder. "Ye are most welcome."

**::Owari::

* * *

**


	12. Bathtime

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** Inuyasha doesn't want to stop for a bath. The rest of the group disagrees about the necessity. Jan. 14, 2008.

* * *

**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Bathtime**

Inuyasha stank.

To be fair, so did everyone else in the group. They'd encountered a particularly smelly youkai earlier in the day, and although they had defeated it fairly easily, its stench remained. Clinging to clothing, skin, and hair, the aroma seemed to have a life of its own, and instead of fading, it only grew stronger as the afternoon wore on. This smell didn't just have nuances; it had a _personality_.

Inuyasha knew he stank. With his nose, how could he not? He smelled even worse than anyone else, probably because he'd had to get so close to the youkai to kill it, while the others had kept their distance. But the smell, while repulsive, was not life-threatening, and the ongoing complaining from his companions wasn't helping the situation.

"Look, I know it smells, but if we have any more delays before nightfall, I'm going to lose Naraku's trail completely. For the last time, we're not stopping just to have a bath!"

The other members of his group were eyeballing him with irritated gazes (especially the women), and he almost couldn't blame them. The smell really was nauseating, and he was starting to think he'd already lost the trail. But if they could just keep going for a few more hours, there was a chance he could pick up Naraku's scent again, and once he knew what direction they needed to travel in, it would be alright to stop for the night near a river or an onsen.

He ignored their mutinous glares and turned his back. "That's my final word. Let's go."

Two steps forward, and suddenly something collided with his back, knocking him onto the ground. He lifted his face out of the leaves carpeting the forest floor, only to find that the heavy weight was still on his back, pinning him down. As he twisted his neck to try to see his attacker, he drew in a lungful of air, ready to start shouting.

Something big and wet swiped across his face and hair. He froze, and then started struggling.

"Get off!"

His only answer was a displeased growl, and another swipe.

His friends started laughing hysterically.

His face burned with humiliation. Here he was, the mighty Inuyasha, being held down and tongue-bathed by a nekomata like he was one of her kittens. Kirara ignored his struggles and started licking him with greater determination. He managed to roll over and get an arm free. Immediately he pushed at her face, trying to fend her off — to no avail. Had she always been this strong?

_Lick, lick, lick…_

"Stop it! Fuck! Alright, _alright!_ I'll find a river! Get off'a me!"

Kirara stepped off of him, looking smug, and returned to her laughing mistress. Inuyasha gathered what remained of his dignity as he rolled to his feet and started leading the way. There wasn't much left of it. The others were still in hysterics, as he threw a dirty look at Kirara over his shoulder. He'd thought she was above such nasty tricks.

_Cats. Keh!_

**::Owari::

* * *

**


	13. Gratitude

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** Kagome is grateful to Goshinboku. Jan. 17, 2008.

* * *

**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Gratitude**

Kagome had barely gotten her feet under her after experiencing the familiar weightlessness of the well when the packed earth beneath her feet seemed to drop away. Accustomed to this, she relaxed against the sensation of her stomach dropping to somewhere around the level of her shoes, and waited for Inuyasha to set her on her feet up above on the grass surrounding the well. She ignored his grousing as he took her heavy back pack from her and shouldered it. It was too beautiful a day to waste on trivialities such as the words he was actually saying as opposed to what his actions said he really meant. Inuyasha grumbled because he liked to grumble, not because he was actually in a bad mood.

Kagome took a deep breath of the clean, fresh air, and then she stretched out her arms as far as she could, feeling a previously unnoticed tension melt away. The noise and crowds of Tokyo had never bothered her, but lately she felt as though she just had more room to spread out on this side of the well. She smiled happily up at the perfect blue sky and the swaying branches of the sunlit trees, humming to herself with pleasure.

"Oi, wench, are ya comin' or not?" Inuyasha demanded impatiently, and she looked down again to see him standing a few feet away along the quickest path to the village.

"Let's take the long way today," she suggested impulsively, because the woods were so lovely this morning that she wanted to linger. Too often on this side of the well, they were all so caught up with seeking jewel shards and battling Naraku and staying alive that they had no time to enjoy the simple things in life.

Inuyasha raised a few token protests, of course, but it didn't take much convincing to get him to follow her. She set off down one of the lesser-used paths that made a wide detour around the village before it curved down the hill and through the rice paddies. It was overgrown and neglected, with little wildflowers peeking out of the long grass; for fifty years it had lain all but abandoned, because it passed through the Forest of Inuyasha, which the villagers had avoided whenever possible until only recently.

It wasn't far from the well to Goshinboku, and Kagome's feet slowed to a stop as they neared the ancient tree. She threw back her head and watched the sunlight filtering down through the leaves above, casting random patches of ever-moving light and shadow on the forest floor below. There was something strong, and serene, and enduring about Goshinboku. All her memories seemed tied to this tree in some way, first in her childhood in her own era, and later in this era where she'd freed an impossibly beautiful boy from his enchanted slumber. This spot seemed to fill her soul up with peace.

"What're ya doin' now, wench?"

**::oo::oo::oo::**

Inuyasha passed Kagome as she slowed, only to have to turn around when her footsteps stopped. There she was, standing still in the middle of the path, staring at Goshinboku. The dappled sunlight shifted across her contented expression, and she looked so pretty.

"What're ya doin' now, wench?" he asked her gruffly, to cover his momentary lapse, although he was sure she hadn't noticed him looking.

Kagome smiled a little more, taking a moment to herself before she finally answered.

"I _like_ this tree," she announced with great satisfaction.

He scoffed aloud before he could stop himself. She turned at the sound and studied him intently, her eyes wide and curious.

"You don't like it?" she asked him.

"I spent fifty years pinned to it with an arrow through my chest," he replied. "It ain't one of my better memories."

It was the truth, but he felt bad for saying so when she turned back to the tree with a little frown. She considered the tree, looking pensive, and he tried to find some comment that would smooth things over and make her forget what he'd said before.

"This is where I first met you," Kagome mused aloud, before Inuyasha could think of anything to say. "That's a good memory."

He couldn't argue with that, unless it was to point out that she'd gotten attacked by Mistress Centipede and then he'd tried to steal the jewel. He bit his tongue and kept silent. It had all turned out pretty well, after all.

Kagome spoke again, in the slow, quiet voice she used when she was thinking deeply about something. "Kaede once told me that if you'd been sealed to any other tree, your body would have wasted away and died, or the scavengers would have gotten you. But Goshinboku protected you. It kept you safe and whole until I could come and wake you up. So I'm grateful to this tree. All my life, it seems like Goshinboku has been watching over me and the ones I care about."

Taken aback by her words, he watched in silence as she stepped forward and laid her hand on the bark. Then she took another step forward and wrapped her arms as far around the massive trunk as she could reach.

"Uh, Kagome, are you _hugging_ that tree?" Inuyasha couldn't help but ask, slightly bewildered.

The part of her face that was still visible turned pink. "No," she replied, rather unconvincingly, with her voice muffled slightly against the bark. She didn't let go.

_Yeah right. Strange girl. Wonderful girl._

Unable to help himself, Inuyasha stepped forward too and let his palm slide over the familiar bark. He stilled his hand. It had never occurred to him to be grateful to Goshinboku. Grateful to the well, maybe, because it brought him Kagome, but to the tree?

_This is where I first met you…_

He looked at Kagome again, and caught her watching him, her arms still embracing the tree and a fond little smile on her face. Blushing, he pulled his hand away from the trunk and let it drop to his side. He turned to leave.

"C'mon, wench, we haven't got all day."

She released the tree and caught up with him, and they headed towards the village side by side. Inuyasha was trying to pretend he hadn't been caught caressing a tree. He was still pondering her words.

_All my life, it seems like Goshinboku has been watching over me and the ones I care about…_

_Keh! Ridiculous!_

But when they came to a fallen log, instead of letting her struggle over it on her own, he took her hand and lifted her over it. And even when her feet were firmly on solid ground again, he didn't let go.

**::Owari::

* * *

**


	14. Lines of Descent

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** While Souta is home sick from school, he and Inuyasha have a talk about fathers. January 30, 2008.

* * *

**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Lines of Descent**

"Ha! I got you again!"

Scowling at the boy beside him, Inuyasha flung away the device in his hands. "This game's crap!" he announced irritably, as Souta performed a gloating victory dance. "When's Kagome coming home, anyway?"

"It's still morning, Inu-no-nii-chan," Souta said with a smirk, kneeling on the floor in front of the "teevee" box to gather up the controllers for his game. "What's the matter? Do you miss Kagome that much, that you can't go a couple of hours without seeing her?"

Inuyasha levelled a glare at him. "Remind me why yer at home instead of at school?"

"I'm sick!"

"Yeh don't seem very sick to me," Inuyasha commented with narrowed eyes, but the little red spots peppering the kid's face and arms said otherwise. They were supposed to be highly contagious, and Kagome was afraid she and Inuyasha would carry it back to the Feudal Era, even if Kagome was immune and Inuyasha was very unlikely to catch the sickness. Inuyasha had been quite vocal about his protests when she'd told him they couldn't go back yet, but that didn't mean he didn't understand her concerns. She said kids usually got mild cases like Souta, but when adults caught it they could be much worse.

"You're just sore because you lost," Souta remarked. "And 'cause you miss Kagome sooo much."

Souta started to back away, grinning wickedly and making kissy noises. Starting to growl, Inuyasha made a lunge for him, and Souta turned and ran for it, taunting, "You must loooove her!"

Inuyasha nearly snagged him, but Souta careened through the door shrieking, and when Inuyasha turned the corner he had to skid to a stop about two inches from a very surprised Mrs. Higurashi. For a moment they just stared at each other.

"Uhhh," Inuyasha said intelligently.

"Inuyasha loves Kagome!" shouted Souta from a different part of the house. More mocking kissy noises followed.

Inuyasha felt his face turn red as the corners of Mrs. Higurashi's mouth started to twitch upwards. Taking the path of least resistance, he sidestepped her and resumed his chase, trying to ignore the sound of her chuckles.

He caught up with Souta on the stairs to the second floor, and a well-aimed leap put him directly in the kid's path at the top of the staircase.

"I'm gonna hang you out the window by your heels!"

Shrieking again, Souta turned tail and headed back downstairs, sliding down the railing to gain speed (Inuyasha made a note to try this later, when no one was watching; it looked like fun, but he'd have to remember to jump off where Souta just did, unless he wanted to run into that knobbly wooden thing at the bottom. That didn't look like fun at all). Inuyasha was annoyed with this house, because there wasn't enough room to put his speed to good use. This gave Souta a fighting chance to escape, but in the end the kid was doomed.

Inuyasha intercepted Souta back in the room where the "teevee" box was and put him in a headlock. Souta struggled helplessly.

"I take it back!" the boy shouted, all four limbs flailing. "I'm sorry!"

Inuyasha just smirked and turned him upside down, holding him around the middle. Souta's legs waved in the air and his hands scrabbled at Inuyasha's arm, trying to loosen his grasp. Inuyasha pretended to drop him on his head, only to tighten his hold again.

"What should I do with ya? Tie you up and leave yeh in the well house? Put you in Goshinboku and let ya find yer own way down? Toss you out the window and see if ya bounce?"

"No no no! Let me down!"

Inuyasha flung him over his shoulder instead and started spinning in circles. He could do this all day, but he didn't want Souta to be sick all down his back, so after a minute he stopped and set the kid down to watch him stagger around dizzily, knocking into furniture. As the boy tried to catch his balance against a small table, the items on top of it went sliding over the edge.

"The picture!" Souta cried, his good humour suddenly gone as he snatched at it.

Inuyasha caught the picture by the frame a few inches above the floor, and Souta breathed a sigh of relief, reaching out to take it from him. With reverent care, Souta placed it back on the table top. The image of a man smiled up from behind the glass.

"Who's that?" Inuyasha asked, as Souta scooped up the other objects off the floor and placed them back on the table with much less concern than he had shown for the portrait.

Souta went still for a moment, and then put the last item down. He looked at the picture for a minute. "It's my otou-san," he said quietly.

Kagome had spoken of her otou-san a few times, but never in any great detail. She always seemed keen to change the subject, and Inuyasha wasn't eager to push a topic that might start her crying. All he really knew was that their otou-san had died in some sort of accident while Kagome was fairly young.

Souta wandered away and picked up the "teevee" wand absently, flipping from one moving picture to the next as though he just wanted something to occupy his hands with. Inuyasha kept quiet and still, trying to figure out what he was supposed to say. He so often stuck his foot in his mouth...

"People say I'm like him," Souta suddenly spoke up, "but I don't remember. Everyone remembers what he was like except me. I was only two years old when he died."

"How did it happen?" Inuyasha couldn't resist asking. Kagome had never explained.

"He left some papers at work one night, and he went to get them," Souta said, picking at a button on the "teevee" control with his fingernail. His voice had the deceptively detached tone of someone reciting a story they've memorized since infancy. "The roads were wet, and the temperature dropped pretty low. It's called black ice, when the water freezes in a thin layer on the road. It's almost invisible, especially at night. His car slid through a stop light right into the side of a big truck. No one was at fault. They say he died instantly."

Inuyasha stared down at the picture again. The man's face stared back, frozen in a grin that looked just like Kagome's and Souta's.

"I don't remember him at all," Souta added, and now there was a note of barely contained frustration in his voice, "But I remember waking up to the sounds of lots of crying." The frustration grew stronger. "Why do I remember that, and nothing about _him_?"

Inuyasha didn't have any answers for the kid. Why was it that everyone he knew had gotten a raw deal in life? He couldn't think of a single person he knew who hadn't experienced some sort of tragedy.

A moment passed in silence.

"If it helps," Inuyasha offered tentatively, "I don't remember my oyaji either."

Souta kept his eyes on the "teevee", but Inuyasha didn't think he was really watching it.

"How'd he die?" Souta asked finally, without turning his head.

Inuyasha wished he hadn't brought it up. But then another part of him wanted to say _something_, even if he wasn't too sure why or what or how much. He picked the picture back up and turned it over in his hands restlessly.

"Well, I only know what haha-ue and Myoga-jijii told me," he hedged.

"Myoga's the flea, right?" For all his feigned disinterest, Souta was listening intently.

"Yeah." Inuyasha studied the picture behind the glass. "Oyaji died the night I was born, protecting haha-ue and me. He only saw me long enough to give me my name. The house he was fighting inside was on fire, and he was already in pretty bad shape from another battle. When the house collapsed… well, even a taiyoukai can only survive so much." Kagome and Souta's otou-san smiled up from the picture. "I don't even know what he looked like."

"He must have looked something like you," Souta said, and Inuyasha glanced up to see that the boy was no longer staring at the "teevee". "I mean, I know it's not the same as seeing his face, but…"

"No, yer right," Inuyasha admitted. "Everyone who knew him says I look a lot like him. Even my brother said so once, and he hates me. Seemed pretty offended by it, as I recall." Inuyasha smirked, then let the expression fade again. Souta was looking at him with… understanding, maybe?

Suddenly uncomfortable, Inuyasha waved the picture at the boy before setting it down. "Ya look like yer oyaji," he said. "His grin, and his nose. Kagome got his eyes."

"You think?" Souta asked hopefully.

"Keh!" Inuyasha replied with a shrug, casting about for some distraction.

The distraction came in the form of Mrs. Higurashi, who appeared in the doorway. "Lunch is ready, boys," was all she said, but she was smiling at them both with misty eyes, and Inuyasha had a strong suspicion that she'd been listening.

He pretended not to notice and trailed after her to the kitchen with Souta beside him.

"Is it ramen?"

**::Owari::

* * *

**

**Translations:**

Inu-no-nii-chan – older dog brother

Goshinboku – the God Tree

Otou-san – father

Oyaji – rude term for father, "my old man"

Haha-ue – archaic word for mother

Jijii – rude term for an old man


	15. Paying Respects

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** Inuyasha visits his mother's grave. Feb. 21, 2008.

* * *

**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Paying Respects**

Inuyasha stepped quietly through the long grass, nearly wading through it in places where it had grown long. Not for the first time since he'd been unsealed, he couldn't help but feel surprised by how drastically the land had changed in the fifty years he had been asleep. It was disorienting, at times, to look around for familiar landmarks and find them changed, or shifted, or no longer present. Sometimes he felt like a stranger now in these lands he had once known so well.

He hadn't been unsealed very long, and it was still unnerving when his eyes picked out groves of trees that had once been fields, fields that had once been forests, and villages where there had been only wilderness before. For him, his time pinned to the Goshinboku had passed in almost the same way as ordinary sleep. No one woke up from a night's sleep with a concrete notion about how long they had slept. There was simply a feeling that some time had passed. A few hours? A day? Fifty years? There had been no difference to him. He'd noticed after waking up that his surroundings had changed a lot, especially the increased size of the village, but he'd thought that he'd slept for perhaps a few summers at most. It wasn't until Kaede had reintroduced herself and told him that fifty years had passed that he got his first inkling that the world was not as familiar as he'd expected.

He hadn't even thought to come here until just yesterday. Yesterday he'd received his inheritance; Tetsusaiga's weight was still new and slightly awkward at his hip. Yesterday he had cut off his brother's arm. _Serves him right. That fucking dirty trick he pulled, pretending the Unmother was haha-ue. Shoulda cut off the other one too. _But if Sesshoumaru hadn't used the Unmother to trick him, Inuyasha might not have thought of this for a long time.

He hadn't thought of coming here earlier because to him it felt like only a couple of weeks had passed since he had last visited. He'd stopped by the night before Kikyou had sealed him. Despite his promise to Kikyou, and their plan to use the Shikon no Tama to make him human, he'd felt uneasy. Somehow, he'd felt that he owed an explanation for what he was about to do.

But that wasn't just a couple of weeks ago. Fifty years had passed. He hadn't visited in half a _century_. He worried; what if it wasn't there anymore? What if the land had changed and he couldn't find it? What if some human had built a fucking hut over it?

The grass was so tall here, clinging to his clothes as he forced a path. The brush hadn't been this overgrown before. It used to be knee-deep grass; now small trees were starting to sprout and the grass was up past his elbows. He made his way to the top of the rise, his eyes seeking out the lake that had always lain at the bottom of the slope. He almost panicked, unable to spot this familiar landmark. But his nose caught the scent of water, and he realized that fifty years had been enough time for a dense patch of tall trees to grow up near the shore, hiding the lake from his view.

Orienting himself, he set off down the other side of the hill, his steps quicker now that he was sure of where he was, and his anxiety mounting as he got close to the site. There! There was the big maple, even taller now than fifty years before.

And there it was.

Inuyasha paused for a minute, relief and melancholy both warring for dominance in his head. After a moment he stepped forward and knelt down, setting aside the items he'd brought with him. With careful, reverent hands, he set to work pulling away the weeds and the dead leaves that had piled up. He scraped away the lichen and plucked the moss away from the carved characters in the stone.

Finally satisfied with his handiwork, he arranged the offering of food he'd brought and lit the incense, only sneezing once at the scent. He placed the bundle of wildflowers before the stone, and then let his fingertips trail over the name. He'd carved those characters into the stone with his own claws, so careful to make sure he got it exactly right. He'd only been a little whelp, but he could read. Haha-ue had been determined that he know how to read and write, even though she'd died before she had a chance to teach him more than the basics. The hiragana were clumsily formed, and he winced at the realization that his writing ability had not improved much over the years. Still the characters were carved deep, still legible even after so many years of wind and rain.

I-za-yo-i.

He settled back on his heels, and released a sigh.

"Hello, haha-ue. Sorry it's been so long. I got myself into a mess, but I'm all right now. I guess it was probably a stupid plan, but you know me. Too damn stubborn and no common sense. Sorry fer swearing. Remember when I told you about that jewel? Well, you'll never guess what's happened now. There's this girl…"

**::Owari::

* * *

**

**Translations:**

Goshinboku – the God Tree, sacred tree

Haha-ue – archaic and very respectful word for mother

Shikon no Tama – Jewel of Four Souls, the sacred jewel

Hiragana – syllabary writing system, the characters written on Izayoi's grave in the 3rd movie (spelling out the syllables of her name)

**Notes:** I got this idea from the scene near the beginning of the 3rd movie, when we see Izayoi's grave, which Inuyasha apparently visits and tends.


	16. Nightmare

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** Miroku has a very bad dream. March 17, 2008.

* * *

**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Nightmare**

"Huh," Sango remarked quietly. "Houshi-sama looks deceptively harmless like that, doesn't he?"

Kagome turned her head to examine the monk in question, who had fallen asleep while waiting for the fire to grow hot enough to cook the fish that Inuyasha had caught for their lunch. She began to smile at the sight. Miroku was sprawled haphazardly in the grass on his back, one arm bent loosely above his head, while the other was flung out to the side. His expression was relaxed, and his mouth hung open slightly, as he emitted soft snores in the warm noon sunlight. All in all, it gave him the appearance of a little boy playing dress up in houshi robes.

"He does look surprisingly innocent," Kagome replied, watching as he twitched and smiled slightly in his sleep. "What do you suppose he's dreaming about?"

"Probably something perverted," Inuyasha spoke up. "Are the fish done yet?"

"_No_," Kagome sighed. "Stop asking. I told you it would be at least another ten minutes."

"That was ten minutes ago," Inuyasha argued.

"It was _two_ minutes ago, Inuyasha. Have some patience."

"Keh!"

"Think we should wake him up?" Shippou asked, watching the sleeping houshi too.

"Let him sleep," Sango told him. "He was up half the night keeping watch. He could use some more rest." She had to hide a sudden smile. Miroku really did look rather adorable. As she watched, his half-smile faded and he let out a heavy sigh, muttering something under his breath. He scrunched up his brow as though troubled about something. Whatever he was dreaming about must be quite vivid to get such a wide range of reactions out of him.

With a suddenness that made her jump, Miroku gave a loud gasp, scrambling upright to stare around him with wide, horrified eyes.

"No!"

For a minute, he just panted, while everyone else sat in surprised silence. Then Miroku's eyes fell on her.

"Sango…" he breathed. Abruptly, he scrambled up, crossed the space between them, and pulled her to her feet. He seemed almost panicked as he threw his arms around her, and she wondered what terrors he'd witnessed in his sleep to make him act this way.

"Houshi-sama…" she started.

Two hands landed firmly on her bottom and gave a little squeeze. Everyone froze.

After a pause during which no one moved, Miroku's head tipped forward until his brow rested on Sango's shoulder, and his whole body seemed to relax.

"Oh, thank the gods," he muttered, giving her buttocks another squeeze.

Coming to her senses, Sango squirmed out of his grasp and back-peddled, feeling her whole face turn red. Miroku let her go, and just looked at her with what appeared to be genuine relief. Sango was still trying to figure out how to deal with the situation when Inuyasha helpfully and mutely handed her the Hiraikotsu, allowing her to fall back on the tried and true method of deterring lechers.

"You pervert!" _Thwack!_

Miroku slipped bonelessly to the ground, and sat there clutching his skull, smiling up at Sango blissfully.

"I dreamed that your lovely bottom was gone, my beautiful Sango-san," Miroku explained. "I'm so relieved it isn't so!"

Sango stared at his foolish smile, utterly flustered. Finally, she hit him again, mostly because she was at a complete loss for words.

"There's something seriously wrong with you," Inuyasha informed the semi-conscious monk as he slumped over on the ground.

Miroku's reply was muffled due to the fact that his face was currently pressed into the grass, but it sounded suspiciously like, "It was worth it."

**:Owari:**

* * *

**A/N:** I admit it. There is absolutely no point to this little story. The idea just jumped into my head and begged me to write it down. Probably not my best work, but still a lot of fun to write.


	17. Rest Easy

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** Inuyasha is just fine. March 31, 2008.

* * *

**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Rest Easy**

Kagome was at his side before Inuyasha had even returned Tetsusaiga to its sheath. Through the pain-haze, he forced himself to focus on her voice instead of his wounds, and tried to figure out when he'd fallen to his knees. Concern laced her words as she fussed over him.

"I'm all right," he told her.

"I know," she replied, as she ducked under his arm and hoisted him to his feet.

His vision swam for a moment, and he leaned heavily on her shoulders.

"It's barely a scratch," he said, pressing his free hand to his stomach for fear that his guts might spill out onto the ground.

"I know," Kagome told him, as she supported his weight and helped him walk to shelter.

The walk seemed to take forever, and when she lowered him to the ground, it was just in time, because his legs had been about to give way.

"It doesn't even hurt," he added, after she peeled him out of his suikan and kosode to examine the gaping hole in his middle.

"I know," she answered gently, as she produced bandages from her yellow bag as though by magic.

He concentrated on remaining sitting upright as she wiped away the blood and bound his wounds with long strips of white linen. Her touch was gentle, but there was no touch gentle enough for a wound such as that to go unnoticed.

"As if a youkai like that could ever really hurt me," he scoffed. He was so tired, and he hurt all over.

"I know," Kagome mollified him, as she guided his head down to rest in the warm indulgence of her lap.

Her hands fondled his ears and stroked his hair. Her scent surrounded him, familiar and comforting. Her presence felt safe, and invited sleep.

"I'm fine," he sighed.

"I know," she soothed. "I know."

**:Owari:**

* * *


	18. Utterly Normal

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** Inuyasha thinks his friends are all insane. April 8, 2008.

* * *

**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Utterly Normal**

Inuyasha was beginning to think that the stress of the quest was driving his friends mad.

Sighing, he reached out and grabbed Kagome's arm for the twelfth time today, steering her around the tree root that surely would have tripped her. Kagome didn't look up from the school book she had her face buried in. She'd awoken this morning flustered, suddenly realizing that she had a test coming up in less than a week. Inuyasha hadn't wanted to head back towards Kaede's village yet, but when he'd said so, Kagome had started freaking out so badly that he'd agreed just to keep her from crying. Ever since this morning, she'd been studying as they walked, and Sango was supposed to be steering for her. Inuyasha had ended up saddled with this chore instead, because Sango was too busy defending her ass from Miroku's wandering hands to pay much attention.

"You're gonna get hit, bouzu," Inuyasha pointed out. "It's not exactly a surprise. You must have a death wish."

Miroku turned too-innocent eyes towards Inuyasha and gave them all a brilliant grin. "Who me? I'm not doing anything."

"Yeah right. Sango's gonna pound you in a minute. You just make sure you stay away from Kagome."

Kagome lifted her head out of her book and gave him a wild-eyed glare. "Shhhhhh!"

Inuyasha gaped at her as the girl disappeared again behind her book. Talk about ungrateful!

"You lecher!"

There was a loud _crack_, and Inuyasha looked back in time to see Miroku spin nearly all the way around from the force of Sango's slap, before staggering a step or two away. Sango doubled her pace and overtook Inuyasha and Kagome, choosing to walk some twenty feet ahead of the rest of the group. Inuyasha eyed Miroku's dazed expression.

"I don't get it," he said. "You know what's gonna happen, but you do it anyway."

Miroku developed a blissful smile as he rubbed his cheek. "The pleasure outweighs the punishment."

"Idiot," muttered Shippou.

They continued on for a while in relative peace, finally coming within view of a small village. Inuyasha would have passed it up, but everyone ganged up on him with arguments about why stopping there for the night would be a good thing. Sango argued that they were running low on food. Miroku wanted to make inquiries about possible leads to Naraku's location. Kagome wanted to sit and study. Shippou didn't seem to really care, but joined in anyway just to be annoying (or so Inuyasha suspected). Inuyasha argued back that it was only midday, and they had hours of daylight left that could be spent travelling, especially since Kagome was in such a hurry to go home. They persisted. Finally, he gave in just to shut them all up.

Miroku quickly secured lodgings for them, using his usual crooked tactics. Inuyasha marvelled that people could be so gullible. Apparently Miroku's innocent and virtuous act was only transparent to people who knew him well. But one of these days, Inuyasha suspected that someone would catch on and they'd have to run for it, dodging farming tools wielded by angry villagers. And when it happened, Inuyasha fully intended to say "I told you so."

Kagome settled into the room they'd been given, dropping her bag on the floor without lifting her eyes from her school book. Inuyasha made the mistake of suggesting to her that they go and see if any of the villagers had any information that could lead them to Naraku. Kagome gave him such a tongue-lashing that he fled the room on the pretence of going to inquire by himself. He really didn't feel like going alone, so he went to sit on the porch instead, and was completely confused when Kagome followed him out. If she wanted quiet, why was she following him around?

Miroku gave them the slip and wandered off to introduce himself to the young women of the village. Sango soon followed when she realized that the monk was gone, and Inuyasha was glad to be out of her way. Sango was nearly as scary as Kagome sometimes. Shortly after, Shippou ran off in a small crowd of little village children, almost all of whom were girls. Inuyasha decided that it was a good thing Shippou was still just an innocent little kid, because one lecher in the group was more than enough to handle.

Kirara hopped into his lap and nudged her head demandingly into his hand until he petted her. She started purring at him when he complied. He'd never dare to torment her the way he did to Kagome's cat Buyo. Kirara might act like a harmless kitten, but Inuyasha was well aware that the nekomata was far older and cleverer than it suited her to appear. If he had to guess, he'd say she was at least a couple thousand years old. If it ever came down to a real fight between them, Inuyasha would win due to power alone, but Kirara had enough battle experience and strength that she could probably take his leg off without much trouble. _Lucky she likes me_.

All was peaceful, but it was not to last. After a few minutes of sitting quietly with her nose still buried in her book, Kagome's scent started to hint at increasing agitation. Inuyasha, contrary to popular belief, was not a total idiot when it came to the girl's bizarre moods. He could tell when danger was brewing, and he stayed still and quiet, hoping that when her frustration was finally unleashed, it would not be directed at him.

Not long after, Kagome flung her school book down onto the porch in front of her knees with a sound like a quiet scream. "I'll never get it! I don't understand anything! I've missed so many classes and now I'm going to fail! I'll be in ninth grade forever!"

Inuyasha watched her warily from the corner of his eye as she ranted, her posture one of melodramatic defeat. He thought he was being clever by keeping his mouth shut. If he didn't say anything, she couldn't get mad at him, right?

"Have you even been listening to me?" Kagome demanded. "Don't you care at all? Aren't you going to say anything?"

Caught off guard, Inuyasha's plan to stay silent evaporated. "Well, what'd you want to stop in this village for, anyway? If we kept going, we could be at the well half a day earlier and you could go to that school of yours."

Kagome did not agree with his logic. "Inuyasha…"

He knew that warning tone. Evidently, so did Kirara, because she leapt off his lap to safety.

"Osuwari!"

Inuyasha gritted his teeth as he hit the ground. He ignored Kagome as she complained about her school. He didn't know why she always wanted to go if it stressed her out so much that it made her crazy. He always got sat more when she was trying to study. He could measure how worried she was about a test just by how often he got sat.

As soon as the spell wore off, he got to his feet and sprang up onto the roof of the building, where he felt relatively safer. Kagome was not likely to make him crash through the roof of a stranger's house. From his perch on the peak, he surveyed the village, his eyes automatically seeking out the members of his group who were too far for him to smell clearly.

There was Miroku, flirting. Of course. And there was Sango, tracking him down. It was kind of funny, actually, to watch as they moved between the huts, like some sort of well-rehearsed dance. It was as though they both knew each other's exact position without looking. Sango would appear around the corner of one building just as Miroku vanished behind the corner of another, but Sango would head in the right direction every time. Inuyasha was beginning to think that it was some sort of game they were always playing, challenging each other. Or maybe it was some sort of insane courtship ritual that no one else understood the rules to.

Oh, Sango was taking a shortcut now. She was going to win this time.

The peace and quiet was disturbed by yelling, which seemed to be getting closer. After a moment, Shippou came running back to the house, shouting for help, as a squirrel youkai about half his size chased after him, chattering angrily. Inuyasha rolled his eyes, watching as Shippou waited until he had reached the safe area of Kirara's presence before turning to face his pursuer. Only then did Shippou use his foxfire, while behind him, Kirara lashed her tails and growled at the squirrel youkai. It apparently decided that it didn't want to be Kirara's dinner and took off in the direction of the forest.

Shippou strutted like a hero, which the village children seemed to think he was. Inuyasha scoffed — quietly. He was still trying to avoid Kagome's attention and wrath, so making noise would not be wise.

Speaking of Kagome, she suddenly let out a wail. "Now I've forgotten everything!" she cried, and Inuyasha watched in mild alarm as she bounced on the spot, flapping her hands hysterically as she indulged in a little panic attack. Totally mental.

Kirara eyed her unconcernedly and then transformed into her larger form long enough to spring up onto the roof beside Inuyasha. She transformed back, and sat primly beside him, wrapping her tails neatly around her feet. Together they watched Kagome's display for a bit, until a familiar shout of "Lecher!" drew their attention further into the village, where Sango had finally caught up with Miroku. The taijiya whacked the errant monk over the head, and caught him as he collapsed bonelessly. Then she slung him over her shoulder and started to carry his limp body back in this direction. Meanwhile, Shippou's little girlfriends were all exclaiming over how brave he was.

"Yeh know, Kirara," Inuyasha said after a moment. "Sometimes I think we're the only normal ones here."

He looked over at the nekomata, only to find her giving him an appraising look from the corner of her eye, in that sceptical way that only cats can pull off. He scowled at her.

"I _am_ normal," he defended.

Kirara turned and started bathing her shoulder nonchalantly, in an "I'm not even going to dignify that with a response" kind of way.

Inuyasha turned his gaze back towards his bizarre friends and scowled a little more.

"At least _I_ don't lick my own ass," he muttered a retort.

**::Owari::**

* * *


	19. Entrusted

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** The Inutachi find themselves entrusted with the care of something very special. May 2, 2008.

* * *

**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Entrusted**

It had been raining heavily all day, and the whole group was feeling miserable. Crammed together under a rocky outcropping that tended to fail in its task every time the wind blew, everyone's tempers were running short. Inuyasha and Shippou were both bored, which caused them to provoke each other every hour or so. Miroku's hands kept wandering, but an afternoon of being pummelled by Sango and Kagome had made his efforts half-hearted at best. Kirara had only lasted half an hour in their company before she'd relocated to a nearby crevice that was only big enough to house her small form. She looked drier and more comfortable than any of them.

There was no question of leaving to find a different place to take refuge. The rain was coming down so hard that the trees a few feet away were blurry, indistinct forms. Even Kirara's quick dash to her new spot had forced her to spend twenty minutes licking her fur dry. They'd be soaked to the bone if they had to wander around looking for a new shelter that may or may not exist.

It was during a lull between squabbles when Inuyasha and Shippou were both sulking that the hanyou suddenly tensed, cursing under his breath. His eyes were fastened on the woods, squinting through the rain. Moments later, a pale blur faded into sight, soon becoming discernable as the distinctive figure of Sesshoumaru.

Inuyasha clearly wanted to leap to his feet and prepare for battle, but he was loath to leave the meagre shelter of the overhanging rocks. He compromised by rumbling a warning growl in his half-brother's direction as Sesshoumaru came closer.

Sesshoumaru could not look any wetter if he'd fallen in a river. Kagome wondered how heavy his water-logged silks, pelt, and armour must be, but he didn't seem fazed by the weather. He seemed to be carrying that fur of his all bunched up in his one arm. Kagome could only suppose this was to keep the trailing end from dragging through the mud.

Inuyasha's growl got louder as Sesshoumaru continued walking directly towards them, but Sesshoumaru seemed to be ignoring him. The rest of the group watched with increasing tension as the daiyoukai came right up to them and stopped only a couple of feet away. He didn't say a word; instead, he shifted his arm a bit, fussing with his pelt. Suddenly, like a magician pulling a dove out of his sleeve, he produced Rin from under the soggy fur and thrust her into Kagome's lap, out of the rain. Startled, Inuyasha's growls stuttered to a halt, and the whole group stared at the newest addition, who looked a little damp but in high spirits.

Kagome looked up in surprise at Sesshoumaru, who for once was looking right at her. Normally, he seemed to pretend that other people didn't exist, so it was very unnerving to be the object of such intense scrutiny. He kept his silence, his blank golden gaze seemingly searching her eyes for something. Several thoughts ran through Kagome's head, the foremost of them being _huh? _and _why?_, but she held her tongue. She felt like it was important that she do so. Whatever he was looking for, apparently he found it. Seemingly satisfied, Sesshoumaru turned to leave.

"Bye, Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin called as Sesshoumaru walked away. "Don't forget to come back and get Rin!"

Rin waved at Sesshoumaru's retreating back until he faded back into the trees. Then she turned a cheerful smile at her new companions, beaming with happiness at their dumbfounded faces.

"Hi Kagome-sama! Hi Inuyasha-sama and Miroku-sama and Sango-san and Shippou-chan! Hi Kirara-san! Wow! Good thing there are these rocks here to make a roof over us!" Rin exclaimed. "It's raining harder that Rin can ever remember! Jaken-sama said Rin should go look up at the sky and maybe she'd drown, but Rin didn't, and Sesshoumaru-sama kicked Jaken-sama into a puddle."

As Kagome looked down at the enthusiastic girl, she felt a smile start to steal its way across her face. Rin's happiness was infectious. All around her, her friends seemed to relax, and the air of gloom faded into a more peaceful mood. Somehow, Kagome felt like the rest of the day might be looking up.

"It's nice to see you again, Rin-chan," Kagome said. "Would you like something to eat?"

"Oh, yes please! Could Rin have that food Kagome-sama gave Rin that one time?" Rin asked. "Remember?"

Kagome searched her memory, trying to figure out what she'd fed the little girl. "What food was it?"

"Kagome-sama's magic food," Rin explained, looking at her expectantly, as though this description was supposed to help.

"You mean ramen?" Inuyasha suddenly spoke up.

"Yes!" exclaimed Rin, beaming at him. "It's Rin's very favourite!"

Kagome saw Inuyasha turn his head away to hide a sudden grin that he couldn't quite contain. "Finally, someone around here makes sense," she heard him mutter.

Kagome couldn't help but laugh aloud at this. She grabbed her back pack and started digging out her emergency camp stove and some ramen.

"Why don't we all have some, since it's Rin's favourite and Inuyasha's favourite too?" she suggested. "I suppose we can collect some rainwater if no one minds waiting a bit, unless someone doesn't mind getting wet to go find a stream."

No one volunteered, so Kagome set the pot on the ground in the rain and sat back to wait. Rin scrambled out of her lap and clambered over to Inuyasha, climbing right into his lap without so much as a by-your-leave.

"Is it really Inuyasha-sama's favourite food too?" Rin asked, neatly derailing his inevitable freak-out. She shifted around happily in his lap, getting comfortable. "Oh, Inuyasha-sama is nice and warm, just like Sesshoumaru-sama."

Inuyasha blushed slightly, perplexed, while everyone else hid their own grins at his expense. "Er, yeah," he answered. "My favourite."

He seemed to be ignoring Rin's other statement. Kagome suspected that he didn't care to be compared to his brother, even in such a favourable light. Either that, or he was afraid his head might explode if he thought too much about the bizarre image of Sesshoumaru cuddling a little human girl.

Rin smiled and stretched out her legs until her feet were sticking out into the rain. She wiggled her wet toes happily as she watched the pot fill up with water.

"Rainwater ramen," she sighed in awe, as though this was a rare delicacy indeed. "Just like magic!"

Kagome suspected that the only magic under this rocky roof came in the form of a certain little girl.

**:Owari:**

* * *


	20. Busy

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** Inuyasha finally figures out how to deal with Kouga. May 11, 2008.

* * *

**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Busy**

Ever since Souta had shared something he'd learned at school, Inuyasha had been hoping Kouga would drop by. He ignored the wolf's goading, pulled Kagome out of reach, and shoved a piece of paper into Kouga's hand.

Furrowing his brow, Kouga read the paper, his lips moving silently. He turned it over and read the other side. He frowned. Then he flipped the card over again. Suppressing his laughter, Inuyasha quietly led a dumbfounded Kagome away.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked. "What did that paper say?"

Inuyasha grinned widely, and started to snicker.

"'How to keep a dummy busy (turn it over)'."

**:Owari:**

* * *

**A/N:** A perfect 100 word drabble. Okay, I admit that I actually like Kouga, but he's not the brightest crayon in the box. Maybe not _this_ dumb, but it sure was fun to write. I don't even know how I came up with this. I don't think I've thought about this prank since elementary school. I didn't even know I still remembered it. I still have no idea what made me think of it all of a sudden, but I'm glad I did.


	21. Overheard

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** Kagome overhears an interesting conversation. August 9, 2008.

* * *

**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Overheard**

It was a beautiful day to take a break. The weather was so fine that Kagome had risen early, despite the opportunity to sleep in, and set off into the fields surrounding the village to collect herbs as a surprise for Kaede. The elderly miko was absent, having travelled to a neighbouring village that had no miko or healer of its own. Kagome hoped that she would be pleased by the gift, and collecting the herbs was actually a very relaxing task. It mostly involved a little light walking and a lot of sitting around in the grass under the warm sun while she plucked wild plants at a leisurely pace. It was quiet and pleasant, and she looked busy so no one tried to bother her.

Kagome was heading back to Kaede's hut now, her basket full and her mood contented. She wasn't sure why Inuyasha had agreed yesterday that they could take today off, but she wasn't about to complain, and neither was anyone else. She could see Sango on the other side of the village practicing with Hiraikotsu, trying to ignore the collection of pubescent boys who had gathered on a nearby fence to watch her with hormone-fuelled admiration. Earlier in the morning, Shippou had run by with a pack of village children, all of them absorbed in their games. Kagome couldn't help but smile at the relaxed mood in the village. Really, she should probably have gone to school today, but she was fairly certain that it was a Friday, so as far as she was concerned, there wasn't much point in bothering. At least if it had been a Monday, she could have felt like she was starting out on the right foot, even if she wasn't going to be there for the rest of the week.

As she approached the hut, she could hear voices inside, apparently having a vigorous conversation in low, agitated tones. She furrowed her brow, trying to hear what was being said as she came nearer. She wasn't having much luck, however, until suddenly, Inuyasha's voice rang loud and clear, sounding very distressed.

"It won't fucking go down!"

The way that Kagome's footsteps slowed to a halt was a reflection of a similar action taking place inside her brain.

…_Huh?_

"Well, I can see how that would pose a problem," came Miroku's contemplative tones. "How did this occur, again?"

"I told you, I just woke up like this!" Inuyasha hissed back, sounding distinctly aggravated.

"Yes, yes, alright. Well, it is a common problem upon waking," Miroku returned. "I, myself, have often…"

"I don't want a fucking story, I just want it to go back down!"

"Alright, let me think for a moment."

There was a long pause. Kagome was torn between complete denial and the urge to start giggling. Surely she had misheard. Surely they weren't talking about… well, _that_. But on the other hand, who knew what guys talked about when girls weren't around?

After a moment of quiet, Miroku spoke again. "And you said you'd already tried…"

"Of course I did!" Inuyasha interrupted. "You think I'd be asking you if I could solve it myself?"

"I'm just asking," Miroku said. "It's always worked for mine before."

Kagome was about two seconds away from bursting out laughing, when Miroku said something that nearly made her choke.

"Here, show it to me again."

_Wha…?_

"No!" retorted Inuyasha. "You just want to laugh at me again!"

"I'm not going to laugh at you," Miroku replied. "Now stop acting like a child and take that blanket off of there so I can assess the problem."

"_Keh!_ Fine," sneered Inuyasha with ill-temper. "But if you laugh again, I'm gonna mess you up so bad it'll make what Sango does to you look like a love-tap."

"I promise not to laugh," Miroku said with the exasperated tone of someone dealing with a recalcitrant preschooler. After half a beat, he amended his statement with, "…again."

"Alright," Inuyasha conceded sulkily.

_Okay,_ Kagome tried to reason with herself. _Not really all __**that**__ weird. They take baths together, after all._

Her jaw dropped at Miroku's next words.

"Do you mind if I try…?"

Inuyasha snorted. "If you think you can fix it, be my guest."

_I can feel my brain cells shutting down, _Kagome realized faintly. _Heh. My brain would rather kill itself than let me keep thinking._

"Ow!" Inuyasha cried. "That fucking hurts!"

"Well, if you'd just hold still…"

"Well, you should know better than to yank on it, stupid! You're just making things worse!"

Miroku let out a gusty sigh of utter defeat. "My friend, I think you're going to have to show Kagome-sama."

Suddenly, Kagome's brain leapt from shutdown to meltdown. _Whoa, whoa, whoa! Back the truck up! Why is my name getting dragged into this?_

"No fucking way!" Inuyasha shouted. "If you think I'm going to let her see me like this, you're an even bigger idiot than I thought!"

"Really, it's not that embarrassing," Miroku stated. "There's no need to be self-conscious. Kagome-sama is a very understanding person."

"She'll laugh even more than you did!" Inuyasha snapped back.

"Inuyasha, Kagome-sama will not laugh at you," Miroku told him. "She's very fond of you. I'm sure she'll be more than happy to help you with this issue."

Kagome's face felt like it was on fire. _Help him… with __**that**__? Just a minute! That's just… I can't…_

_Okay, so maybe the idea is a __**little**__ intriguing…_

"I'm going to go find her," Miroku added.

_Oh crap! How fast can I make it to the well?_

Before Kagome could snap out of her panic-induced paralysis, the woven mat hanging in the doorway of the hut was swept aside, and Miroku came striding out. He quickly caught sight of her.

"Ah, just the lovely lady I was looking for," he proclaimed cheerfully. "I'm afraid that Inuyasha has gotten himself into a bit of a predicament, and it is beyond my abilities to solve. Hopefully you can assist him."

While Kagome was still trying to come up with an escape plan, Miroku had already reached her side and taken hold of her arm. He began ushering her towards the door of the hut.

_Huh, my physics teacher was wrong, _Kagome thought, contemplating her legs, which she had thought were paralyzed. Apparently they responded just fine to Miroku's overwhelming powers of propulsion. _Irresistible force conquers immoveable object. I should write a paper for extra credit._

"Uh, Miroku-sama, I don't think I'm really the person…"

"Nonsense," Miroku replied in a jovial tone. "With all the knowledge from your era, surely you'll be able to do _something_ with him."

_Huh?_

And without warning, she was inside the hut. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the dimness, not really sure if she wanted to look.

"Don't laugh at me!" Inuyasha warned petulantly, his words slightly muffled.

Kagome turned towards his voice. He was sitting in the middle of the room. Or at least, she assumed that it was him, since it was his voice, but it was hard to tell because he had a blanket draped over his head, completely concealing him from view.

This was just getting too weird.

Miroku grabbed the edge of the blanket and yanked, ignoring Inuyasha's protesting cry and avoiding the snatching claws that tried to grab the blanket back. Kagome stared. Inuyasha scowled back.

"Oh," she said, after a minute. She started to smile, but managed not to laugh.

"I get the same problem," she assured the pouting hanyou. "Why don't you come through the well with me? I've got a straightening iron that'll sort that out in no time."

Inuyasha pressed his hands down on top of his head, trying to hold down the unruly locks of hair that stuck straight up in the back. "But people might see me," he complained.

Miroku threw the blanket back over Inuyasha's head. "You, my friend, are surprisingly vain."

Kagome covered her mouth with both hands and valiantly tried not to giggle, while giving silent thanks to whatever powers might be listening that it was only a nasty case of bedhead, and not something else.

**:Owari:**

* * *

**A/N:** I'm really sorry. Apparently my brain is set on "naughty" today. Would you believe that I had this inspiration spontaneously while walking downtown to buy a sandwich? And then I got home and just had to write it down, instead of finishing the one-shot I've been slaving over for the past three weeks (but I will finish it soon, don't worry). I rattled this one off pretty fast, so let me know if there are any mistakes. Oh, and visit my deviantArt page if you like Inuyasha fanart (homepage link on my profile page).


	22. Possessive

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** In which Miroku meets a beautiful lady, and Shippou is perturbed. August 22, 2008.

* * *

**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Possessive**

The lecher was up to his old tricks again.

Inuyasha watched with a detached sort of annoyance as Miroku flirted shamelessly with the woman they had met on the road. It wasn't that he found the monk's womanizing irritating on its own, although he did think it was wrong. The irritating part was that Miroku had the nerve to flirt with the woman right out in the open, in front of Sango and Kagome. Sango was going to be in a bad mood all day (a terrifying prospect in itself), which meant that Kagome was going to be upset on her behalf. Since Kagome was fairly powerless to fix the situation, she would be frustrated. And when Kagome was frustrated, Inuyasha tended to get sat. A lot. And it was all Miroku's fault.

The other reason that Inuyasha wasn't happy was because the situation didn't feel quite right. How common was it for a woman to travel the roads all alone? Although, to be fair, they really weren't that far from a small village. Inuyasha leaned against a tree, trying to think logically about the reason for his unease. It was nothing specific. Were her clothes a little too nice for a simple village woman out gathering wild fruit or herbs? Was her face a little too beautiful? Were her eyes just a little too shrewd? Did her voice sound just a little like she was trying not to sound amused?

Inuyasha scowled. _It'd be just our luck to meet some woman playing decoy for a bunch of bandits or something while we're waiting here. And it'd be just like Miroku to fall for it. Hurry up Shippou! How long does it take for you to take a crap?_

As if on cue, the sounds of rustling branches and softly pattering paws came into hearing range, and Shippou emerged from the undergrowth, looking relieved. He grinned up at the girls winsomely, momentarily distracting them from Miroku as they were suddenly overcome with the need to smile at how adorable they thought Shippou was. Sly little brat. He was always looking for opportunities to wrap them a bit further around his little finger.

"Finally," Inuyasha remarked scathingly. "How far did you go, to the continent?"

But Shippou didn't answer him. He had noticed what Miroku was up to, and was now scowling in the monk's direction. Inuyasha was surprised to hear the kit start growling quietly under his breath. What had gotten into him? Shippou usually didn't care about Miroku's lechery, except when there was an opportunity to mock him.

The girls were staring at Shippou now too, apparently just as baffled as Inuyasha, but before any of them could ask questions, Shippou darted off and sprang up onto Miroku's shoulder, startling the monk into silence. Then, with his fur bristling and his tail sticking out stiffly, Shippou leaned forward and bared his teeth at the woman, cranking up the volume on his growl.

Miroku, ever the fast thinker, visibly scrambled for an idea of how to salvage the situation.

"Ah, Shippou…" he started, but Shippou interrupted him.

Without shifting his glare from the woman's eyes, Shippou put his small hand over Miroku's mouth, effectively shutting him up (if only out of surprise). Still growling, Shippou leaned forward a little further, obviously trying to get in the woman's face as much as possible from his current perch.

"These humans are _mine_!" Shippou announced assertively, his tone almost threatening.

The woman's attractive face was the picture of comical surprise — eyes widened and mouth hanging slightly agape. Then, like clouds clearing into a blue sky, her expression melted into a rather charmed smile.

"My apologies, sama," she replied, bowing almost theatrically low. "It is not my habit to poach on another's territory."

Shippou stared down his nose at her while she peeked up from beneath her eyelashes at him, still bent almost double in apology. Shippou's eyes narrowed, and the woman's smile took on distinctly mischievous qualities.

"Very well," Shippou said finally, with the air of one making a big concession. "You're forgiven."

The woman popped back up again, grinning broadly. "This one was too gullible for my tastes anyway," she remarked, smirking at Miroku's surprised expression. "I take my leave. Safe journey, friend!"

Letting out a merry laugh, the woman turned around and set off down the road, swinging her hips in a way that only drew more attention to the rusty-furred fox tail that was suddenly swishing back and forth behind her. It certainly hadn't been there before. They watched as she rounded a bend in the road and vanished from sight. Moments later, there was a surge of youki in the area, followed by a few yipping barks. Shippou stood up on Miroku's shoulder, cupping his hands around his mouth as he replied in kind.

Everyone was still staring when Shippou sat down again. He settled into a posture that was as dignified as anyone could hope to manage while perched on someone's shoulder, his expression one of calm satisfaction. Apparently he was pleased with how the situation had turned out.

After staring down the road for a moment, Miroku turned to where Inuyasha and the women stood. He looked dumbfounded.

"What just happened?" the monk asked.

Shippou slanted a sideways glance at him, looking exasperated.

"I don't know how you managed before you met me," was the kitsune's only answer. "Are we going to the next village, or what?"

**:Owari:**

* * *

**AN:** It's a good thing I'm not a kitsune, because I'd get up to far too much mischief. I had foxes on the brain after posting my last story, and Miroku just made such a tempting target. Good thing Shippou is the brains of the operation (or so he'd like to think). I've had plenty of ideas lately, so look forward to more stories in the near future.


	23. Flirt

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** Kouga has a brief encounter with the Inutachi that brightens his day. December 29, 2008.

* * *

**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Flirt**

"I'll kill you, you mangy wolf!"

Kouga used his speed to sidestep as the mutt charged at him, sword and fists at the ready. Really, it was just too easy. Didn't dogturd ever learn? Teasing him wouldn't be nearly as much fun if his reaction wasn't so thoroughly entertaining.

"Inuyasha, osuwari!"

And then there was that. Priceless!

Kouga used the opportunity to step over the prostrate, cursing hanyou (planting his feet right in the dog's spine as he did so — it was just too tempting), and clasped Kagome's hands in his, giving her his most winsome smile.

"Kagome, I swear that I'll return for you when I've killed Naraku. I won't rest until the day I can take you away and make you mine. I promise you'll wear nothing but the finest silks and furs in the land, and eat only the most tender meat, and never have to do a day's work for the rest of your life. Nothing will be too good for my woman! Soon, my dear, sweet Kagome, I promise."

The human girl blushed a fetching shade of pink and tried diplomatically to extract her hands, mumbling vague protests. "Uh, Kouga-kun… that's really not… there's no need…"

"Your modesty is so becoming, Kagome, but you don't need to be so shy about your affections! I would shout my love for you from the mountaintops if you asked me to!"

"Like you don't already, you bastard," Inuyasha grumbled in a muffled voice, still plastered to the ground.

Kagome blushed deeper and her mouth moved soundlessly as Kouga fixed her with a smouldering gaze.

"I have to go now, Kagome. I know it will be difficult for you, but you must stay strong until I return. I can only hope this mutt will keep my woman safe until then. Farewell!"

Kouga ran off with his usual dramatic exit of whirling dust, heading for the nearby mountains, leaving behind a flustered miko, a furious hanyou baying for his blood, and assorted others who he had never bothered to pay much attention to.

When he was well out of earshot and view, he stopped, fell over in the grass, and laughed.

That was just too much fun!

Contrary to popular belief, Kouga was not as clueless as others made him out to be. He wasn't even as clueless as he pretended to be. He might have a stubborn, one-track mind, but he hadn't become leader of the wolf demon tribe by being stupid. It took more than speed and brute strength to accomplish what he had.

He had (reluctantly) realized a long time ago where Kagome's affections truly lay. He'd held out some hope at first that she might grow to love him, but that hope had quickly died a bittersweet death. The miko was stuck on that hanyou, and all the declarations in the world were not about to sway her. Lucky mutt! But it had just been so much fun to drop in every now and then that Kouga had kept it up long after he had given up hope.

At first the amusement had been watching Inuyasha work himself into a jealous rage. Fighting with him was great for stress relief, although it rankled a bit that in order to stay uninjured he had to use his speed to avoid the hanyou's attacks. The idea that any hanyou could be powerful enough to pose a threat to a full-blooded ookami alpha made him leery. Kouga was stronger than most other youkai! How did a hanyou come by that much power? But after meeting the older brother, Sesshoumaru (whose level of power made Kouga's fur stand on end — not that he would ever admit it), and doing some digging into their lineage (_the_ Inu no Taishou?!), things had started to make sense. Kouga was cunning enough to be careful just how far he pushed the mutt. Hanyou blood was rumoured to be unstable, and with that much power behind it…

But having to exercise caution didn't mean he had to give up his favourite hobby completely. Watching Kagome subjugate the mutt was worth every minute of time wasted when he should really be hunting Naraku. He'd never get enough of that! It could keep a smile on his face for days.

But it had soon become clear that the real entertainment lay in a different direction. It was still Kagome he was really there to see, although for different reasons than before. In the beginning he had come to try to entice her with pretty words and heartfelt declarations. Now, he showed up to watch her blush.

And the girl was so easy to embarrass!

Kouga had discovered that the level of embarrassment Kagome displayed was directly related to how incapable of taking a hint he seemed. The more clueless he appeared, the more she squirmed, trying so very hard to be tactful about things. She really was sweet girl, so afraid that she might hurt his feelings that she had not yet sent him packing with his tail between his legs, in spite of the formidable temper he knew she had. So it became a game. He would show up, aggravate the mutt, possible fight a little if he felt like it, hope to witness Inu-baka being subjugated, and then clasp Kagome's hands and pin her with his most passionate stare at close range (invading her personal space always doubled her embarrassment at the same time as it doubled the mutt's jealousy). Then he would make some adoring declaration of his feelings for her, demonstrate complete immunity to hints that she was less than enthusiastic about the idea, and struggle not to laugh until he was well out of sight. It had gotten to be so much fun that he found himself making more and more outlandish, extravagant claims each time, sometimes thinking them up days in advance. Sometimes it got to the point of complete ridiculousness, and he was pretty surprised that no one had got wise to him yet (although he suspected that the monk may have started to catch on, judging from the gleam of humour in his eyes). References to "making her his" usually worked quite well to make her blush, as did oblique references to being mates. He had not yet worked in a mention of cubs; he was keeping that one in reserve for sometime when he really needed cheering up, as he was sure the results would prove very rewarding.

But there was nothing mean-spirited about his attempts to embarrass Kagome. Even though he couldn't have her, he wished her nothing but happiness, from the bottom of his heart. If all his flattery made Kagome feel better about herself when that mutt was being stupid, so much the better. And maybe — just maybe — the stupid dog would finally get fed up and tell Kagome how he really felt. She deserved that much, because she really was a wonderful girl.

Kouga tried to picture Inuyasha delivering a heartfelt declaration, and failed. He burst into renewed laughter, hiding his face in the grass. Inu-baka's head would probably explode from embarrassment before he'd admit his feelings. He really was such an awkward, inexperienced puppy with no clue about women!

Eventually, Kouga regained enough composure to recognize the scent of his pack, the sounds of Ginta and Hakkaku's voices, and the fact that he was being prodded with a stick.

"Do you think he's alright?"

"I dunno," _poke poke_ "Maybe he's gone mad…"

"You think?" _poke poke poke_ "Hasn't he always been a bit mad?"

"Huh… that would explain a lot."

"I'm running away if he is. No way am I taking on Naraku by myself."

"Same here."

_Poke poke_…

Kouga rolled over and sat up abruptly, snatching the stick away from Hakkaku and tossing it into the trees with a growl.

"Arghhh! Mad wolf!"

Kouga jumped to his feet and smacked them both on the top of their heads with his fist. "Idiots! I'm not mad, and you're not running away, you cowards."

He took off running towards the horizon and shouted back over his shoulder, "Hurry up! Today we'll kill Naraku!"

"Didn't he say that yesterday?"

"And the day before."

"COME ON!!"

**:Owari:**

* * *

**A/N:** This story has been finished and hanging around my hard drive for over a year. I wasn't happy with it when I wrote it, and I actually classified it as abandoned until only a couple days ago. Suddenly, as if it had been sliced by Tenseiga, it sprang back up, alive and kicking. Kinda surprised me, actually. I haven't changed it much from its original format, except for a few edits where the language was awkward. I'm actually fairly satisfied with it now. Go figure. Let me know if there are any typos.


	24. Haute Cuisine

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** Married life suits Inuyasha. Or at least, most of it does. December 29, 2008.

* * *

**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Haute Cuisine**

Inuyasha felt quite pleased with himself as he made his way to his hut, glad to be back after a two-day youkai-exterminating trip to a nearby village. A generous number of coins were tucked into his suikan, strung together and wrapped carefully in cloth so that they wouldn't jingle and attract attention. He used to let Miroku take all the payment for these expeditions, but he was a husband now, and homes required _things_. He'd never had so many things in his life, but now he found himself acquiring all sorts of "necessities" — cooking pots, fire tongs, blankets, thread, fabric, baskets, less-common foods, and the list went on. The money he'd made would go a long way towards obtaining everything Kagome needed to be happy and comfortable here.

He was eager to get home. Two days of separation felt more like twenty, taking into account his new, married outlook on life. No amount of teasing from Miroku could stop Inuyasha from looking forward to an enthusiastic reunion with his wife of four months. Anyway, Miroku had no right to comment when he and Sango would probably start working on kid number four as soon as they could shoo the twins off to Kaede-babaa's hut and get the baby to fall asleep. Smirking to himself, Inuyasha pushed the hanging mat aside and stooped to enter the doorway of the hut he shared with Kagome.

"Tadaima!" He still got a thrill out of having the opportunity to use that phrase. He'd never really had a home to say it in before.

Inuyasha stopped in his tracks as a disturbing odour greeted him, hardly noticing Kagome's subdued response.

"What the hell is that smell?" he asked curiously, looking around the hut to try to figure out if she'd set something on fire at some point.

Kagome burst into tears.

Inuyasha panicked, but tried not to be too obvious about it. "I'm sorry," he said immediately. He'd learned quickly that this was usually a good way to begin. "Please stop crying."

Kagome wailed something incomprehensible and waved a helpless hand towards the fire, where a cooking pot was sitting. Inuyasha quickly pinpointed this as the source of the smell.

"Is that _food?_" he asked incredulously.

Kagome just nodded and cried harder.

Three years ago, he'd have shouted, or run away, or looked to someone else to make Kagome stop crying. Now he just put his arms around Kagome and waited for her sobs to lessen.

Eventually, she stopped crying enough that he could coax an explanation out of her.

"You said you'd be home by suppertime today, so I wanted to cook something special for you," Kagome said miserably. "At first, it seemed like it was going really well. The broth seemed alright, and the noodles looked sort of… noodley-shaped, but then when I put them together, it all went…" she trailed off, waving distraughtly at the cooking pot again as she wiped tears off her face.

Inuyasha looked at the thick, brownish-grey mush filling the pot. It didn't exactly stink; it just smelled really weird, and not much like food, and he was pretty sure that the bottom must be burnt.

"Wait…" he said. "You mean… were you trying to make ramen?"

Kagome burst into renewed tears. "I wanted it to be special! I thought if I could just get the noodles to work, I could at least make something kind of _like_ ramen. I'm a terrible cook! I'm a terrible wife!"

This was going a bit far, in Inuyasha's opinion. She must have really had her heart set on surprising him if she was this disappointed about it not working the way she'd wanted. Now if he could only get her to stop crying…

He looked at the strange-smelling gunk and summoned all his courage.

Sometimes, a man's got to do what a man's got to do.

He released Kagome and reached for the ladle. "It's probably fine," he said, scooping up a generous amount. "Even if the noodles fell apart, it's still made of the same stuff."

He eyed the odd-smelling mixture dubiously, but there was no turning back now. Raising the ladle, he took a mouthful, and froze. The flavour was… character-building, to say the least. In fact, it tasted the way that it smelled. This was not a good thing.

Aware of Kagome's eyes upon him, he forced himself to swallow. The texture was worse than the taste. It took him a moment to recover from the experience, but he looked back at Kagome with a weak smile, prepared to offer some sort of compliment.

Her tears had stopped, which was a blessing. She was watching him with a kind of horrified fascination.

"I can't believe you ate that," she said, sounding awed. "It tastes _horrible_."

Inuyasha blinked at her.

"You mean, you let me put that _in my mouth_, knowing how awful it was?" he demanded.

"I didn't think you were dumb enough to do it," she answered, starting to laugh. "Even _I_ can smell it!"

He wanted to shout, but he was so relieved that she had stopped crying that he couldn't bring himself to say anything that might stop her laughter. Instead he grabbed the cooking pot and carried it out of the hut at arm's length.

Kagome caught up with him at the river. She came up behind him and put her arms around him, still chuckling as she peered around his shoulder. They stood together on the bank, watching the submerged pot as the current started to dissolve the foul slop.

"I think Kaede's cooking fish tonight," Kagome spoke up after a moment.

"Sounds good," Inuyasha replied.

They continued watching the pot. Seeing the river wash away the disgusting mush was oddly cathartic.

"Why'd you want to make something special tonight?" Inuyasha asked after a while, with a sinking feeling. "Did I forget an important day?"

He could feel Kagome shake her head against his shoulder blade.

"No," she replied, to his relief. He could hear a smile in her voice. "You didn't forget anything."

She paused and tightened her arms around his chest. He raised his arms to cover her hands with his own as he waited for her to explain.

"I wasn't certain at first," Kagome continued, still speaking into his back. "But I hope you're fond of puppies, Inuyasha, because we're going to have a baby."

Inuyasha stood stock-still for a long moment, as his world rearranged itself around him. Finally, he turned around in her arms to look at her.

"You're sure?" he asked, feeling poleaxed.

She nodded, her face glowing with happiness and excitement. "Pretty certain, yeah."

He stared at her, trying to wrap his head around the idea. "A pup… you and me…"

Her smile seemed to shine in the deepening shadows of dusk as she brought her hands up to clasp his face. "You're going to be someone's Tou-chan," she informed him, as though hoping that by stating it in several different ways, the information would eventually sink in.

He felt a grin start to take over his face. "Our pup," he tested out the words, and found them to be very much to his liking. Awestruck and elated, he laughed, and bent to kiss her.

Her hand blocked him before he could claim her lips.

"Uh, no offence, but maybe you should wash your mouth out, first," she said, before turning to consider the cooking pot again. "I'm fairly sure it's not poison, but… well, it's probably better not to risk it."

"I still can't believe you let me eat that," Inuyasha complained, feeling his stomach churn.

Kagome snickered.

"Misery loves company," she told him, snuggling up against his chest. "Nothing says 'I love you' like throwing up in unison."

**:Owari:**

* * *

**Translations:  
**Youkai – demon, spirit  
Suikan – Inuyasha's fire-rat robe  
-babaa – suffix that Inuyasha likes to add to Kaede's name, rude way of saying "old woman", "old hag"  
Tadaima – "I'm home", standard greeting when returning home, usually answered by the response "Okaerinasai" (Welcome back)  
Tou-chan – very childish, affectionate version of "Otou-san" (father), translates roughly to "daddy" or "papa"

**A/N:** Ages ago, probably not long after the end of the manga, I had the idea for Kagome attempting to make some sort of ramen from scratch. The idea has been filed away in my head for months, and suddenly popped up in this little slice-of-life. The last half of the story took me by surprise as I wrote it, as the story was originally intended to just deal with the ramen debacle, with no mention of impending parenthood. The plotbunnies evidently disagreed. This story was written quite quickly, so send me a message if there are any typos!


	25. Fluffy

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** Inuyasha has a question to ask his brother. January 5, 2009.

* * *

**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Fluffy**

"I give up, what the hell is that thing?"

Inuyasha's question came without warning, but Sesshoumaru was unfazed by the abrupt query that interrupted his visit with Rin.

"I mean, it can't be a tail," the hanyou continued, waving a hand towards the fur that covered Sesshoumaru's shoulder, "but I know it _moves_, and bleeds when it's cut, and it does what you want it to, but it ain't attached. So what _is_ it?"

Every eye in the elderly miko's hut was fastened on Sesshoumaru. Apparently, this was a topic of some interest.

"The mokomoko-sama is a semi-intelligent, telepathic parasite which this Sesshoumaru permits to feed off his youki in exchange for its usefulness as an extra limb. To be powerful enough to spare such an amount of youki for so frivolous a purpose is a mark of distinction among inuyoukai. Only a true daiyoukai can absorb the constant drain of energy without suffering any ill-effect."

The hut was silent as its occupants stared.

"_Really?_" Inuyasha asked, blinking in surprise.

A rare smirk that lacked any malice twitched at the corners of Sesshoumaru's mouth.

"No."

**:Owari:**

* * *

**A/N:** Oh dear, The Fluff. Sesshoumaru's mokomoko-sama will forever remain one of life's mysteries, I'm afraid. It seems most likely to simply be an extension of his youki, but we fanfiction writers really have a lot of artistic wiggle-room here. I hope I was successful in my attempt at giving Sesshoumaru a _believable_ and potentially in-character sense of humour. I can't imagine his sense of humour being anything other than deadpan. And of course, Inuyasha would believe him.

Come to think of it, this mokomoko-sama theory is just as valid as any other, all things considered.


	26. The Trouble With Brothers

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** Sesshoumaru has good reasons for hating his brother. January 18, 2009.

* * *

**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**The Trouble With Brothers**

Sesshoumaru _really_ hated his brother.

This was a topic he'd had a lot of time to ponder while lying paralyzed in the woods, waiting as his body slowly repaired itself from Inuyasha's fledgling Wind Scar. It certainly wasn't a new concept. Lately, it seemed as though he had no shortage of points to add to his collection of reasons-to-detest-Inuyasha. It wasn't difficult to come up with new reasons, even without his brother's helpful demonstrations.

Realistically, he couldn't have expected Inuyasha to react to his attacks in any other way, and it wasn't as though the consequences had been overly severe. Temporary paralysis was hardly worth the notice of a daiyoukai. Even losing an arm was relatively minor; some degree of maiming was to be expected among youkai siblings, and he could think of at least four acquaintances who had lost limbs in squabbles with their own brothers and sisters. His arm would grow back. To be fair, he _had_ put out Inuyasha's eye that same day, and retaliation in kind was hardly surprising.

So Inuyasha's actions really weren't much cause for hatred, in the grand scheme of things. His hanyou status was a much better excuse, and certainly didn't raise any eyebrows in youkai society. Hanyou were weak, uncouth, and they smelled funny. Who in their right mind wouldn't hate them? But Sesshoumaru had always been a little too clever to adhere to the opinions of the masses. Why bother to hate Inuyasha for being a hanyou? It wasn't as though the boy had asked to be born that way.

Still, Sesshoumaru was content to let Inuyasha think that this was the reason for his hatred. Why not? Inuyasha couldn't change the true shortcoming any more than he could change his blood.

Long ago, when Sesshoumaru had told his disappointed father that he would never accept a half-breed brother, the eavesdroppers and rumourmongers had gotten entirely the wrong idea. He hadn't bothered to correct the gossip. After all, how petty and foolish would he have seemed if they had all learned the truth?

In truth, he would never have accepted a full-blooded inuyoukai brother either. There wouldn't have been any noticeable difference, anyway. Had he been born to a youkai mother, Inuyasha would have come out just the same; a loud, foul-mouthed, sword-flailing, reckless cretin who wouldn't recognize a bath even if he fell into one, never combed his hair, and had horrible fashion sense.

No, Sesshoumaru would never have accepted a brother at all.

Standing now on a forest path, wrinkling his nose at the strong scent of blood, Sesshoumaru marvelled at the scene in front of him. Was the answer really so simple?

It was filthy. But it could be washed.

It was wearing a horrible peasant's kosode, but that could easily be changed.

It was currently _dead_, but that could be fixed too.

It was human. Well… one must learn to make compromises. Who knew? Maybe that could be cured as well.

Sesshoumaru rested his hand on Tenseiga's hilt, debating. Brothers were useless. A brother would not sing pretty songs, or bring Sesshoumaru flowers, or let Sesshoumaru dress him up in a pretty kimono and play with his hair.

He hesitated a moment more as he studied the tiny body. He wasn't sure if it would be able to sing. It hadn't spoken when it was alive, but he knew it could smile and laugh.

It was little. It was _female._

It had an _adorable _hairstyle.

Sesshoumaru drew Tenseiga, feeling gleeful.

He'd always wanted a little sister.

**::Owari::**

* * *

**A/N:** I just had to poke fun at how up-in-arms people get with the debate over Rin and Sesshoumaru's relationship status. Father-daughter or future lovers? I personally think the relationship is a parental one, but I'm wise enough to know that there is evidence for both arguments, and no official statement from Takahashi-sama one way or the other. So I just had to throw a third option out there. Hope I managed to startle you all into laughing! I wrote and edited this about one hour before posting it, so let me know if you find any typos.


	27. Proxy

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** All Sango wants is a full night's sleep. Is that too much to ask? September 30, 2009.

* * *

**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Proxy**

"Sango? Wake up, Sango!"

Sango tried desperately to cling to sleep, wishing that the loud whisper would just go away. But as usual, the harder she tried to stay asleep, the more awake she became.

"Pssst! Sango, wake up!"

Sango buried her face a little deeper into Kirara's fur, letting out a noise of protest that was somewhere between a groan and a whimper. Inuyasha had been pushing them all hard the last couple of weeks, and the breakneck pace of their travels, as well as the sporadic battles along the way, had exhausted everyone in the group.

"Wake up! Sango! Kagome needs you."

_Kagome needs you._ How many times had she lost sleep due to that phrase? Sometimes she wanted to wring Inuyasha's neck. He was a light sleeper, and didn't need as much sleep as the rest of them, so he was usually the first one to notice anything amiss during the night. But when something was wrong with Kagome, did he ever deal with it himself? Of course not. That would make too much sense.

No, instead, Inuyasha would wake Sango from her well-deserved rest and pester her into dealing with whatever issue had presented itself.

Sango didn't hold this against Kagome. It wasn't Kagome's fault that Inuyasha seemed to believe that Sango was the only member of the group equipped to handle even the most mundane problems.

"_Hey Sango, Kagome's crying about something. Make her stop."_

"_Sango, wake up! Kagome needs her bandages changed. And give her some more of that medicine so she won't get a fever."_

"_Oi, Sango! Kagome's having nightmares. Just wake her up, yeah?"_

Oh, nice. He'd started poking her. That meant he was only seconds away from resorting to shaking her awake.

With extreme reluctance, Sango cracked one eye open, trying to muster up a forbidding expression in hopes that Inuyasha would get the message and go away. But there he was, dimly lit by the remains of the campfire, staring at her from an uncomfortably close position. He didn't seem to be preparing to flee, like she'd hoped.

"What?" she whispered irritably.

"Kagome needs you," Inuyasha repeated, keeping his voice low.

Sango sighed with exasperation. "By all the kami, Inuyasha!" she hissed back. "I need sleep! Why on earth can't you do something for her yourself for once? You're the one who noticed a problem."

Inuyasha's ears flattened. "She's in pain," he replied, sounding distressed.

Sango opened her other eye now and peered through the gloom to where Kagome lay. She was fast asleep, but she did seem restless and uncomfortable, frowning and shifting around a lot.

"Did she hurt herself?" Sango asked, confused. Then, without waiting for Inuyasha to say anything, she added, "But that still doesn't answer my question. Surely _you_ can take care of her."

"I can't." Inuyasha seemed reluctant to elaborate.

"Why not?!"

"Shhh! I just can't, alright?"

Sango pinned the hanyou with a glare, thoroughly fed up with his inability to communicate. He squirmed under her gaze, but finally he broke.

"Fine! It's woman problems! Happy now?"

And he disappeared up a tree.

For a moment, Sango just stared up at the branches in surprise. Then, embarrassed, she started blushing. Finally, her brain caught on to the absurdity of the situation, and she started to giggle. She covered her mouth tightly with both hands, trying not to let out any sound that might wake her companions.

"Stop laughing!" Inuyasha whisper-shouted from somewhere up above, sounding very embarrassed and aggrieved. "Just fix her!"

"Oh shut up, you big baby," Sango hissed back when she managed to get her mirth under control. She started to stoke up the fire and moved the kettle closer to the heat. "I'll give her some tea and she'll be fine. I just wish it was that easy to fix your brain."

"_You_ shut up!"

"How about both of you shut up?" muttered Miroku suddenly. "I don't care about Kagome's woman problems. Or Inuyasha's broken brain. I'm trying to sleep."

"Shut up, Miroku!" Sango and Inuyasha retorted in unison.

"Gladly," Miroku replied tiredly.

Shippou snored on, oblivious.

Without warning, Kagome murmured something, stretched, winced, and slowly sat up. She rubbed her eyes blearily as she looked around, getting her bearings. Her eyes fell on Sango, and she froze mid-yawn.

"Oh, hi Sango," she whispered. "What are you doing up?"

Sango cast about for the best answer, and finally gave up and decided to go with the simplest one.

"I couldn't sleep," she replied. It was basically the truth. She wasn't going to get back to sleep anytime soon, and she might as well accept it with good humour. She adjusted the position of the kettle and smiled at Kagome.

"Want some tea?"

**::Owari::**

* * *

**A/N:** It's embarrassing how long it's been since I wrote anything! In my defence, I just graduated from a very intensive college program in June and spent July apartment hunting and doing a little freelance work, started a new job in August, and was busy working and preparing a submission for a photography contest this month, so life has been hectic. I've also been in more of a Final Fantasy VII and Harry Potter fanfiction mood lately, so my attention hasn't been focused on my usual fare. I've had several stories in the works for quite a while, but just couldn't find any inspiration to finish them. This one-shot is sort of a way to kick-start my writing again and get the gears turning. I wanted to explore some Sango and Inuyasha interaction, since it's not something I frequently write. Hopefully the fact that I feel out of practice does not show in this piece, and it was enjoyable for my readers! And hopefully my next works are a little more in-depth now that I've got my feet wet again!

Take a moment to visit my new YouTube channel. I have 3 videos posted, the latest of which is an Inuyasha AMV. Let me know what you think! I value the opinions of you, my readers. The link is on my profile page. Visit my deviantArt page while you're at it. There's some Inuyasha fanart you might enjoy.


	28. Unsung

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** Four views of Miroku, from the eyes of his travelling companions. Sometimes first impressions can be misleading. October 5, 2009.

* * *

**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Unsung**

**Lecherous**

Sometimes Sango could not believe the man's nerve.

They had just finished slaying a snake youkai that had been periodically capturing and devouring the young men from a small village. After having made the gruesome discovery that none of the captives were still alive, the mood was fairly sombre. And then, on their way back to the village, Houshi-sama decided to act completely inappropriately by trying to grope her.

What on earth was wrong with him, anyway? Apparently, he'd been born with some sort of defect that made it impossible for him to keep his hands away from the bottoms of attractive young women. And not for a minute would Sango buy that story about his cursed hand being at fault.

She'd almost been too angry to hit him (but only almost). Leaving him twitching in the dirt, she'd stormed off, taking the long way back. Now, leaving the trees and approaching the village, she had calmed down a little. Her temper was just simmering beneath the surface, instead of boiling over explosively.

As she reached the first huts, Sango caught the sound of Houshi-sama's voice, as well as another voice. A female voice.

Bristling, Sango advanced towards the sound, slinking around the side of a building. Usually she kept him on a fairly short leash, inserting herself into these situations early enough to prevent him from acting too lecherous. But for some reason, today she found herself wanting to give Houshi-sama enough rope to hang himself with before she accosted him.

She could see them now — Houshi-sama and the young, attractive woman standing before him, quite close together. Sango edged forward so she could hear them speaking.

"Please, Houshi-sama," the woman spoke, her soft, shy, proper voice making Sango grind her teeth in annoyance. "Was there any sign…?"

The woman looked distraught, and abruptly Sango felt ashamed of her unkind thoughts, recognizing the woman as the wife of one of the youkai's latest victims.

Her irritation returned, however, as Houshi-sama clasped the woman's hands in his. "I'm afraid not, my dear woman."

Targeting widows now? This was a new low.

The woman gave a low sob and flung herself at Houshi-sama, fisting her hands in his robes. Sango was about to step forward and put an end to this before the lecherous monk could upset the woman even further with unwanted advances, but something made her pause and reassess the situation.

Houshi-sama's hands.

They were resting on the woman's back, around the vicinity of her shoulder blades, and showed no sign of venturing anywhere they shouldn't. He was holding the woman with complete innocence, simply offering comfort.

_He left me alone as well, when I first joined the group, until I was feeling better_, Sango suddenly remembered. _I guess he's not a total pig, after all._

Just then, Houshi-sama looked up, directly at Sango, and gave her a look of helpless frustration. Taking pity on him, she came forward and coaxed the woman away with kind words and sympathy.

**::oo::oo::oo::oo::**

**Self-serving**

Shippou pulled himself up onto the fencepost, grunting with the effort of the climb. A lot of things were difficult with such short legs, and climbing was one of the worst. He made it, eventually, and sat down, turning his attention towards Miroku. He watched for a while, trying to work out how Miroku was about to profit from his current activity. Miroku never did anything without some sort of personal gain.

"Miroku, what are you doing?"

Miroku paused in his task, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his wrist as he did so. He smiled at Shippou, his eyes crinkling up at the corners. He had a friendly smile. That was part of the reason he was so good at conning people.

"I'm splitting wood, as I'm sure you're clever enough to see," he answered, setting another log on its end and hefting the axe once more.

"Oh," Shippou replied, and watched as Miroku swung the axe down with all his might, sinking the blade deep into the wood. It looked like difficult work.

_Thud! Clatter! Thud! Clatter!_

"Why?"

Miroku answered readily enough, tossing the split wood onto the pile he'd created. "The old man and his wife don't have any sons to do it for them."

_Thud! Clatter! Thud! Clatter!_

"Are they paying you?" Shippou hazarded a guess.

Miroku actually laughed then. "No." Seeing Shippou's look of confusion, he elaborated. "If they offer me a meal, I won't say no, but they don't have enough money to be hiring monks to chop their firewood for them."

Shippou was really baffled now. "Then why are you doing it?"

Miroku shrugged, smiling, as he set up another stick of wood. "Because it needed done."

_Thud!_

**::oo::oo::oo::oo::**

**Irreverent**

_He really doesn't act like much of a monk._

Kagome's rather uncharitable thought was not without cause. Miroku had been causing headaches all day long. Shortly after waking, he'd tried to swindle the headman of the village they'd stayed at, and only Kagome's quick thinking had prevented him from succeeding. They'd had to leave the village in a hurry after several of the men had gotten upset about him flirting with all the women. He'd groped Sango no less than four times as they'd walked. And now that they'd made camp, he'd been teasing Inuyasha mercilessly for his own amusement, but in such a subtle way that Inuyasha wouldn't even realize it was happening until he suddenly found himself all riled up for no apparent reason.

In short, Miroku had been a nightmare.

_And now,_ she grumbled to herself as she kneeled by the stream, filling the cooking pot and the water bottles, _he's decided to add laziness to the list. He could have shown a little willingness to help out with the meal._

Didn't monks have some sort of rules against all these sorts of actions? Greed, and dishonesty, and sloth, and carnal thoughts? Evidently he didn't take these vows very seriously. Some monk he was!

She started to head back to the others, stomach growling, only to realize a few feet into the trees that she wasn't sure of the exact location of their camp. Cursing herself for not paying closer attention, she paused to get her bearings, and then started walking away from the river. Soon, she reasoned, she'd be able to hear her companions and adjust her course, and if not, she could always shout for Inuyasha to come find her.

Sidestepping a low, thorny bush, Kagome found the edge of a small clearing and realized that she was not alone. Miroku sat atop a large stone, and she was about to call out to him until she got a better look.

He looked serious and tired as he stared at his covered right hand, with no hint of his usual cheerfulness. As she watched, he massaged his right hand with his left, looking pained. There was something terribly private about the scene, and Kagome felt like an intruder. _I should leave,_ she thought, but she didn't move.

Then, to her surprise, Miroku pressed his hands palm-to-palm, closed his eyes, and prayed.

His expression as he did so was startlingly unlike the Miroku she was used to seeing. His brow was knit, with his eyes scrunched closed, giving him a look of intense concentration. There was something innocent and childlike about his devotion; it was fervent and completely devoid of doubt. He showed none of the irreverence that he normally displayed.

After a moment, he opened his eyes and let his hands drop, then rose from where he sat.

"Are you lost, Kagome-sama?" He turned and faced her, his expression mild and a little amused. "The camp is this way."

**::oo::oo::oo::oo::**

**Greedy**

"Well, that's the last of our money," Miroku said, passing around the rice balls he'd bought at the modest teahouse. "It's not much, I'm afraid, but it'll have to do."

Two rice balls each. Inuyasha could feel his mood worsening. As if Kagome running out of ramen wasn't bad enough, now they were out of money too.

Not that he agreed with the monk's method of obtaining money in the first place. He scowled at the thought. Just because the man who'd let them stay at his house a few weeks ago had been rich, that didn't mean Miroku had any right to accept so many goods in payment for ridding the house of a "dark aura". And then he'd sold all the items at the next village for much more than they were worth.

Inuyasha quickly downed his meagre portion and eyed the runt's speculatively. Shippou hunched over his share, and he bared his teeth at Inuyasha and growled. _Good. The kid's learning._

"Inuyasha!" scolded Kagome, "Don't be such a pig!"

He ignored her and leapt up onto the roof to wait. She just didn't understand. She'd never lived in a world where eating slow might mean you didn't get to eat at all.

Crouched on the roof, he had a good view of everything around him. Villagers went back and forth, some stopping at the teahouse but most of them simply going about their business. If he looked straight down, he could see Miroku sharing out the rest of the rice balls with the girls. The porch the girls were sitting on was pretty small, and when Miroku looked as though he might attempt to squeeze in beside them, Inuyasha let out a warning growl. Miroku didn't look up, but he sighed resignedly and carried his lunch a few paces away towards the corner of the building, looking for a place to sit. Inuyasha fell silent and settled himself more comfortably on the tiled roof to contemplate the busy little village.

It seemed like a prosperous place, even though it was only small. Whether by luck, location, or skill, it had avoided the bandit raids, wars, youkai attacks, and natural disasters that plagued most other villages its size. In any case, its inhabitants seemed reasonably well-fed and friendly.

Well, most of them, at any rate. Every village had a few people it liked to pretend weren't there. Inuyasha watched as a couple small children dressed in rags snuck around the side of the teahouse. Orphans, probably — maybe five and eight years old from the look of them, and likely hoping to beg for some food or find some dropped money. They probably weren't pick-pockets; Inuyasha had tried his hand at pick-pocketing as a child, and found it to be too much trouble. You had to get close to your target without being discovered or you'd get beaten, and most villagers didn't have much on them worth stealing anyway.

Inuyasha wasn't the only one who had spotted the skinny brats. Miroku walked over to them, crouching down to appear non-threatening as he said something. Then he offered them his lunch.

Inuyasha furrowed his brow as he watched the two kids snatch the rice balls and warily retreat a few steps before gobbling them down. It had been over a day since any of Inuyasha's companions had eaten anything substantial, and there were no guarantees that Inuyasha would be able to catch much tonight. Miroku had to be hungry, and he must be fully aware that he might continue to be hungry for quite some time.

Inuyasha couldn't help but feel a little jealous. No one had ever given up their lunch for him when he was a kid.

The two urchins finished their meagre meal rapidly, without taking their eyes off of Miroku. They hesitated, and then the older brat bowed slightly before grabbing the younger kid's hand and running off. Miroku smiled wryly and wandered back to the front of the building, where Kagome, Sango, and Shippou were eating slowly to make their lunch last longer.

"Are you finished already?" Kagome asked incredulously.

Miroku merely smiled, letting the girls think whatever they wanted.

"You're as bad as Inuyasha," Sango commented. "Did you even taste it?"

"It was most satisfying," Miroku replied serenely.

Inuyasha, still seated up above, didn't let on about what he'd seen. But privately, he decided that there was more to Miroku than met the eye.

**::Owari::**

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**A/N:** This piece was started a very long time ago. Two years ago minus a day, in fact. I had it about 95% finished when I stopped working on it, unsatisfied and stuck for a good ending. But now, reading it over again, I think it's worth posting, even if it isn't my best work. Today I pulled it out and finished it. I was going to post it separately, but I decided that "Collected Works" was the best home for it, as it doesn't feel strong enough to stand on its own. It still feels a bit unfinished, to be honest, but I've decided that this is as far as it can go.


	29. Territorial

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** Why does Sesshoumaru spend so much time wandering around? Inquiring minds want to know. October 12, 2009.

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**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Territorial**

Kagome had been puzzling over something for the last half hour in silence, ever since a quasi-peaceful encounter with Sesshoumaru and his little group. She had stayed with Inuyasha (for moral support, and to chat with Rin) as the two brothers had traded information on Naraku's latest activities, while Sango and Miroku had taken Shippou and Kirara ahead to a nearby village to secure lodgings. Now, walking to join them in the deepening dusk with her favourite hanyou by her side, Kagome finally gave voice to the issue that had been weighing on her mind.

"Inuyasha, what does Sesshoumaru do when he's not hunting Naraku?"

Inuyasha gave her an odd look. "What do you care what that asshole does?"

Kagome shrugged. "Every time I've seen him, he just seems to be wandering around. I thought it was kind of strange, that's all."

Inuyasha put his arm around her waist and hopped over a deep ditch where the road had washed out, setting her down on the other side and letting go. "Well, I suppose he mostly does the same thing I do when we're at Kaede's village and the well," Inuyasha replied. "Patrolling."

"Huh?"

Inuyasha looked amused at her confusion. "Patrolling," he said again. "You know, checking out his lands, defending his borders, marking his territory, that sort of thing. Same reason I usually take off for a couple hours every time we go back to the village. Except Sesshoumaru's territory is a lot bigger than a village, so it would take him weeks to travel around the edges. Months, if he walks the whole way. By the time he's finished, he probably has to start all over again."

Inuyasha smirked, as though he thought his brother was an idiot to try to look after such a large area of land.

It was getting steadily darker. It was a beautiful, clear night — the air was warm, but not humid, and the wind was fairly still. The stars were starting to appear overhead. Kagome had faced enough scary things to not be very afraid of the dark, but she was also smart enough to be just a little nervous on the road at night. Inuyasha's presence at her side was reassuring, and she drew a little closer to him as they travelled. For a while, they walked in silence, until something else occurred to Kagome. She felt a smile start to tug at the corners of her lips.

"Hey, Inuyasha."

"What?"

"Do inuyoukai mark their territory the same way regular dogs do?"

It was not quite dark enough to hide Inuyasha's comically surprised expression. Kagome congratulated herself on managing to throw him for a loop. It took a moment before he gathered his thoughts enough to answer.

"Um… well… sometimes," he admitted.

Unbidden, the image of dignified, lordly Sesshoumaru cocking a leg by a tree came to her mind, and she started laughing. Inuyasha smirked a little, but mostly just watched her antics with a bemused expression that made it clear that he wasn't entirely sure why she found the idea so amusing. Somehow, that only made it funnier.

Eventually she calmed down enough to continue walking, still giggling to herself now and then. As they crested a rise in the road, the twinkling lights of the small village appeared in the hollow below. Kagome felt the little bit of tension she had almost forgotten about melt away at the sight. Up ahead would be a comfortable place to sleep, a warm meal, and the secure feeling of being surrounded by their entire group.

Something from their previous conversation suddenly clicked in her brain.

"Wait a minute…" she started, her feet slowing to a halt. "You said… that you patrol too." A wide grin slowly took over her face, and laughter fought its way out of her as she asked, "Does that mean… does it…" She had to pause to catch her breath amid her laughter. "Does that mean that… you _pee_ on everything too?"

"It's not funny!" Inuyasha protested, growing red in the face. "Everyone's gotta piss! Besides, my hands and feet leave enough scent on the ground and trees that I don't need to do that!"

"Okay, okay," Kagome replied, struggling not to laugh as she started walking again. "I believe you. It's not necessary to pee on everything."

She waited a beat, smiling innocently as he eyed her with a disgruntled and suspicious expression.

"But I bet you do it anyway!" she shrieked suddenly, and dashed towards the village, giggling.

He shouted behind her, but his outrage didn't sound at all sincere. She heard him give chase, and knew that he was holding back, letting her play, because if he really tried he could catch her in a heartbeat. He might let her reach the village without catching her. If he was in a rare playful mood, he might catch her and knock her off course. Occasionally, she could get him to play, to tag, to tussle. But no matter what he decided to do, she was happy.

_Happiness was…_

…_to tease and torment, knowing that he would not take it the wrong way._

…_to run with him through the night, knowing that she was safe despite the thrill of the darkness._

…_to hear him laughing at her squeal as he bluff-charged her, making her dodge out of reach._

The stars shone above. The lamps gleamed in the village below. And in between, she was with him — two specks racing on a ribbon of road.

**::Owari::**

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**A/N:** Another one shot that's been hanging around my hard drive nearly finished for a very long time. After going so long without doing much writing, I think I've entered Spring-cleaning mode. Thought this would be an amusing idea. The final image of stars above mirrored by the village lights below is something that entered my mind fairly early on. It only took about a year and a half for me to find a way to actually write it.


	30. Creator

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Inuyasha series or any of the characters.

**Summary:** Chichi-ue was proud of all his creations, except one. February 28, 2010.

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**Collected Works of a One-Shot Junkie**

**Creator**

Chichi-ue liked to play god.

Whether he was winning battles or women, he delighted in his own power. He took life with one hand and restored it with the other. And like a god, Chichi-ue was proud of all his creations.

All but one.

And Sesshoumaru knew the sting of rejection as he watched his father's most disastrous creation wield the greater sword. How he burned to realize that _he_ was the solitary flaw, Chichi-ue's one regret.

Had Chichi-ue been alive, he might have explained that his firstborn son was not a flawed creation, but his most devastatingly perfect triumph.

**:Owari:**

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A/N: I realized I haven't written anything for a little while, so I decided that a drabble was in order. This idea has been bounding around in my head for a while now.


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